Latest news with #Craigielaw
The Herald Scotland
9 hours ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Living the dream as hopefuls tee-up at Open qualifying
In fact, some of the more technologically challenged entrants would probably view a successful navigation of The Open Qualifying Player Portal online log-in process as something of a rousing triumph. At the likes of Barassie and Craigielaw up here to Ferndown and Gog Magog down south, The Open dream will be alive and kicking. Well, until a nervy triple-bogey on the first. For £150, though, it's all worth it to be, even at this early and remote stage, part of the game's most treasured major championship. From amateurs and up-and-coming stars to club pros, veteran campaigners and a couple of golf fanatics who made a name for themselves in different ball games, the 18-hole regional qualifying shoot-out features a giddy old mix of combatants. Jimmy Bullard and Peter Odimwingie, both former Premier League footballers in their day, are giving it a whack and a thwack at Rochester & Cobham Park and Enville respectively. After retiring from the roon ba' game, the dimpled one became Odimwingie's passion and he embarked on the three-year PGA degree course. The former Stoke City, Cardiff City and West Bromwich Albion player graduated as a qualified professional last May. 'The course takes some effort to accomplish,' said the 43-year-old who earned over 60 international caps for Nigeria. 'I hear that people do quit halfway through because of the volume of it and the pressure that comes with it. It wasn't easy, but I think the character I developed from football helped. 'I've had those times when I had a goal drought and didn't score for five or six months, but you have to keep going. Sometimes you just have to endure.' It sounds like the qualities you need to get through qualifying for The Open. Or just through a round of bloomin' golf in general. If you happen to be interested in ice hockey, then you may have heard of Mario Lemieux, an Olympic gold medal winner and one of the sport's greatest players. And if you're not interested in it, then we may as well be writing about Mario Lanza. Anyway, Lemieux's son, Austin, was set to be teeing-off at Craigielaw as the he joined the scramble for a place in next week's 36-hole final qualifiers. Whenever Open qualifying crops up, of course, it's almost impossible not to think about the intrepid, eccentric and well-documented escapades of Maurice Flitcroft. It's almost 50 years now since the Barrow crane operator bluffed his way into final qualifying at Formby for the 1976 Open at Royal Birkdale, posted a bewildering 121 and sparked so much headshaking, harrumphing and handwringing among officialdom, the turbulence of said agitation just about buckled the handle of the Claret Jug. It was hardly surprising. In those days, golf's high heids yins were described as being, '10 per cent flesh, 10 per cent blood and 80 per cent rule book.' Flitcroft's acts of cunning, determined and ultimately futile subterfuge would go down in golfing history. And whenever some hapless hopeful at Open qualifying endures a chaotic day, Flitcroft's name often crops up. Back in 2008, for instance, an entrant by the name of John Spreadborough got the tongues wagging during the regional stage at Musselburgh with a lively 99. 'Maurice Flitcroft revisted?,' suggested one of the referees at the time after a round which included a 13 at the par-5 seventh and an 11 at the par-five 11th. A defiant flurry of three straight pars to finish was the kind of roof-raising finale you'd get with a rendition of Nessun dorma. A very brief post-round chinwag with Spreadborough, however, heightened the suspicions that we may have had another Flitcroft in our midst. 'I put the Brucefields golf facility down as an attachment as I don't have a handicap,' he said after revealing that he had, like Flitcroft before him, entered as a professional and had sneaked under the radar. 'Everybody dreams of playing in The Open and I thought it would be good to be involved,' he added before beating a hasty retreat. There will be plenty of dreamers giving it a go today. And sometimes, those Open dreams can come true.
Scotsman
a day ago
- Sport
- Scotsman
Open hopefuls heading to Kilmarnock (Barassie) and Craigielaw for Regional Qualifier
More than 2,300 golfers set to do battle in bid to clear first hurdle for Claret Jug joust Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A scramble for sports in the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush gets underway on Monday as 15 venues across Great Britain and Ireland, including two in Scotland, stage Regional Qualifiers. More than 2,300 entries were received for the first phase in the battle to tee up in the second Claret Jug event to be staged at the County Antrim venue in the space of just six years. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The vast majority of the Scottish hopefuls are in the fields at Kilmarnock (Barassie) and Craigielaw, which is staging Regional Qualifying for the first time after replacing Goswick on The R&A's list of venues. The 153rd Open takes place at Royal Portrush nect month and the battle for spots is about to get underway in the season's final major | The R&A Fraser Walters, a promising young amateur at Craigielaw, will be hoping to make home advantage count while the Mukherjee brothers - Cameron, Oli and Sam - have also played a lot of golf there, though Gullane is now their home club. Others in the Craigielaw line up include Bathgate professional Joe Bryce, who will be aiming to take up where he left off when shooting a bogey-free 64 in the second round to win last week's Arnold Clark PGA in Scotland Tour 36-Hole OOM Challenge at Hilton Park. James Ross, the former Royal Burgess amateur star who is now a professional based in the US, is teeing up as well at the East Lothian venue, as is former Scottish Boys' champion Eric McIntosh. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Keir McNicoll, the head pro at Carnoustie, is making a rare competitive outing these days while Borders amateur Jack McDonald, East Alliance champion Neil Henderson and former DP World Tour player Chris Doak are also playing in the 18-hole shoot-out. World Cup winner Marc Warren teeing up in Ayrshire Over on the opposite side of the country, recent Paul Lawrie Golf Centre Scottish Par 3 Championship winner Scott Henry is joining his brother, John, in trying to clear the first hurdle at Kilmarnock (Barassie). Marc Warren, who won the World Cup with Colin Montgomerie in 2007, is also in the field at the Ayrshire venue, as is three-time Hotel Planner Tour winner Liam Johnston. Others hoping to pass that test include Rory Franssen, a winner on this season's Tartan Pro Tour, experienced Ayrshireman Jack Doherty and Craig Ross, who has played on both the Hotel Planner Tour and Sunshine Tour in South Africa. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Regional qualifiers are also being held at Bearwood Lakes, Caldy, Enville, Ferndown, Frilford Heath, Fulford, Gog Magog, Hesketh, Lindrick, Moor Park, North Hants, Rochester & Cobham Park and The Island.
