A dream day on the greens for Rockliffe Hall’s Mike Henson converted into top spot at Goswick as dozens of amateurs tackled Open Regional Qualifying yesterday.
FORMAT: 18-hole stroke play
The Northumberland venue was one of 15 to host the first stage with Final Qualifying for the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool taking place at at Dundonald Links, Royal Cinque Ports, Royal Porthcawl and West Lancashire next Tuesday (July 4th).
Henson is hoping it will be Dundonald after making it out of Regional Qualifying for the second time. In 2017 he made it to the final stage at Glasgow Gailes but admitted he was overawed by the occasion.
“To be honest I felt out of my depth,” said the 41-year-old, who won the Welsh Mid-Amateur in 2021 and was second in the English Open Mid-Amateur last year.
“To turn up and be surrounded by European Tour pros and Challenge Tour pros was a bit of a shock to the system but I will be ready this time and that was a good experience, despite the fact I had a bit of a nightmare.
“I am also playing the best golf I have ever played and just have to focus on putting two good rounds together. It’s possible…it’s just about being able to do it on the day.”
Henson will certainly be hoping his putter stays hot next week. At Goswick he had 12 one putts in finishing with a four-under-par 68, one shot ahead of Morpeth pro David Clark and Scottish amateur Cameron Adam (Royal Burgess).
The former Yorkshire player had six birdies, finishing strongly to claim his place. At 14 he knocked in a 12-footer to get to two under and followed that up with an 18-foot hole-out on the par three 15th.
“Beforehand I thought anything in red will go close and I knew that was going to be around the mark while playing,” he added. “You quickly get a sense of what’s a good score.
“So when I got to three under I just said to myself ‘give yourself two good chances’. However at no point did I look at a scoreboard to check how I was doing.”
Henson certainly did that, converting from 18 feet at the par five 17th and then he missed from six feet for a closing birdie after recovering well. An adrenaline-charged drive ended up in a bunker but he hit a superb approach in close.
He added: “I have put Dundonald as my first choice as I think it will suit me better than West Lancashire and I do like going to play golf in Scotland.
“I hve been very fortunate with the support I have received from my sponsors Lightfoot’s Jewellers and Fenetek and my caddy Dave Wilson. He is very laid back and we had a good vibe at Goswick. He was great yesterday and thankfully he will be able to caddy for me next week.”
Two other amateur topped their qualifying contest – Moor Park’s George Castle made home advantage count while Southport and Ainsdale’s Jack McPhail did not have far to travel and used his knowledge of Hesketh to good effect.
Castle got off to a great start and was four under to the turn and he remained on that score (68) to finish one shot ahead of eight players, seven of whom made it through.
Lancashire county player McPhail, who was runner-up at the Portuguese Amateur back in February, was the only player to break par at the Southport venue, finishing three ahead of a quartet of others. He made his move around the turn and closed out with a three-under 68.
At Minchampton, Cotswold Hills’ Mike Downey left it rather later. He birdied 16, 17 and 18 to make it into an eight-man play-off for four spots and held his nerve in the sudden death format.
The place to be for amateurs was Caldy on The Wirral where six of them qualified, including Southport and Ainsdale’s George Holland, who gained the final qualifying place after a five-man play-off.
Overall 36 of the 117 spots available went to amateurs and all will be dreaming of playing in The Open at Royal Liverpool next month (July 20-23).
For all the scores from the qualifying venues click here