It’s been a quite a year for amateur golf in Great Britain and we asked some our leading players what were their stand-out moments and also asked them to look ahead to 2022
‘I holed out from 146 yards with a nine iron on the second hole and was -5 after seven holes’
1) Your best round of the year and why?
My best round of the year was breaking the course record at my home course Dawlish Warren. I holed out from 146 yards with a nine iron on the second hole and was -5 after seven holes. I was able to two putt from 25 feet on 18 to beat the previous record by one.
2) Your best shot of the year and why?
My best shot of the year is between:
i) The shot I hit into 18 to secure the course record at the warren.I had 214 yards into the wind and off the left with the ball slightly below my feet (the green is only 30 feet wide and you have out of bounds left and right not far away from the green). I hit it to 25 feet… that was a great shot.
ii) Or in the final of the County Championship on the fifth hole at East Devon golf club. The pin was at the back of the green on the upper tier and I had over clubbed with my second shot and was in the rough long of the green with a mound to go over. I had a two foot landing spot which if I overshot would’ve gone down the tier which was six feet behind the flag and off to the front of the green. My opponent had 20 feet for birdie and I managed to pitch it in from the rough which put me three up after five and topped off a fantastic start.
3) The best shot you saw and why?
That was by David Blick (my opponent in the final of the county championship) on hole 17 at East Devon. He was about 50 yards short of the pin in the rough, there is a dip short of the 17th green and if you come up short of that green you will be 20-30 feet below the level of the green so it’s a really tricky shot. The pin was about 20 feet on and I had just hit from a similar spot to David to about 10 feet which I thought was a good shot. But he produced a fantastic pitch shot to about one foot. At this point I was two up but his pitch shot won him the 17th and took our match to the 18th (and made me age a couple of years).
4) Your favourite moment of 2021 (this could be personal or something completely random but golf related)?
My favourite moment of 2021 was celebrating with my girlfriend, parents and some friends after winning the County Championship at East Devon. It was great to have them all there supporting me and I think my dad was even happier than I was when I won; the same with my girlfriend so it was great to see how happy it made them and it was brilliant that they came to support.
5) Your hopes and ambitions for 2022?
Play in some more regional events and at least contend in a couple. I have started working with Simon Shanks from Bowood in Wiltshire. He coaches lots of top players and pros including Eddie Pepperell and Jordan Smith so I’m looking forward to working with him over the winter.
6) One thing you would change about about golf for next season?
If I could change one thing about my golf going into next year I would like to become a better driver of the ball. The rest of my game is pretty strong most of the time but my driving is my Achilles heel so I hope to improve that over the winter and take that into next year.