Berkshire Trophy recovery victory from Welsh international
OPENS: Monday, June 20th
FORMAT: 72-hole stroke play
Alex James overcame a dreadful start to win a highly-eventful Berkshire Trophy, eventually overturning a four-shot deficit on the back nine to capture the biggest title of his career last night.
The Royal Lytham player, who was five over par for his opening 12 holes, fought back brilliantly into contention but a slow start in the final round meant catching club-mate and long-time leader Jamie Van Wyk looked unlikely.
However the Welsh player went birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie on 14 thru 17 while Van Wyk played the back nine in five over. There was also a remarkable final-round surge from Surrey’s Aadam Syed (Foxhills). He birdied five of the last ten to finish a shot back of the champion.
A conversation with father and caddie Andrew after 12 holes of the opening round on the blue course turned the tide for the Welsh Open Youths champion. That and a chip-in at 14.
“I had a chat wth my dad after bogeying 12 and it was along the lines of ‘start playing or go home’,” said the 20-year-old.
“At that point I thought if I could get it back to par by halfway I might still have a chance. But birdieing three of the last five holes really gave me some momentum.”
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James birdied 14, 15 and 17 to open with a two-over-par 73, which left him seven back of the Stoneham’s Alex Talbot and Van Wyk.
And he would end up on two under par at halfway after going bogey free on the Red course on Saturday afternoon which meant he made the cut comfortably, the top 47 making it through.
On Sunday morning he had his first bogey in 33 holes at the ninth but he burst into contention with five straight birdies, starting at the 13th where he took full advantage of the three par fives
“That was some of the best golf I have ever played,” said the Lancashire-based golfer.
“My plan was just to keep finding the middle of the green and if I missed, miss on the low side because if you left yourself above the hole, it was extremely difficult because the greens were so quick.”
A booming drive at the par five 13th left him with just a nine iron in and, although he missed just short, was able to get up and down for his third birdie of the round.
At 14 he pinged a wedge to four feet before finding the putting surface in two at the par five 15th and he made no mistake in getting down in two. The long par three 16th was proving a difficult ask for most of the field but the Lytham golfer fired a four iron to ten feet and rolled it in while at 17 he again got up and down for birdie to get to five under for his round. That left him just two back of Van Wyk while Syed was a shot further back in third.
However the 2021 Surrey champion bogeyed seven and eight to drop back, James was one over for his first eight holes while Van Wyk played the front nine in three under.
The turning point for the eventual champion came at nine where he drained a 25-footer for eagle although once again the closing holes proved highly productive.
A brilliant wedge shot out of the rough on 14 left him 20 feet away and he knocked it in to get under par for his round. He then came close to an albatross on 15 where he put a six iron to a foot.
“After the eagle on 15 I thought I might be back in it. Aadam was in the group behind and I could see he was playing well but to be honest I was surprised about Jamie’s score.”
Van Wyk double bogeyed 11 and then bogeyed 12, 14 and 16 to drop out of contention while once again his club-mate hit a superb approach into 16 to get himself to 11 under.
That became 12 at the very next hole as he executed a brilliant up and down after a poor approach shot into a green-side bunker, holing a fast-breaking 18-footer for another birdie.
At 18 he missed from virtually the same spot as he did in the morning – this time it was for par – to drop back to 11 under but it would prove a winning score, which was confirmed after a wait of 45 minutes.