Two East Lancashire golfers are just 36 holes away from teeing it up alongside the likes of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler next month.
Simon Lucas and Mark Young, who both play out of Longridge Golf Club, secured qualifying spots in Monday’s Regional Qualifying for The Open Championship.
They will now progress into Final Qualifying next week, where if they can shoot two low-scoring rounds they might just get into The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport.
The 200-mile drive up to Kilmarnock (Barassie) on the Ayrshire coast didn’t trouble Mark Young, who carded six birdies on his way to a score of 69, three-under, and a tie for seventh spot.
This led to a play-off against three other hopefuls, with Mark, a former conservatory fitter from Hurst Green, emerging triumphant.
Final Qualifying will be familiar ground for him; he’s made it this far three times before and in 2015 secured himself a spot at The Open.
Meanwhile, at Hesketh Golf Club on the West Lancashire coast, Simon Lucas got himself into a tie for third with a two-under score of 69, also carding six birdies along the way.
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Two Lancastrian amateurs also qualified at Hesketh, Neil Williams of St Annes Old Links tied in third while Andrew Haswell’s one-under saw him into a tie for sixth, with the Ormskirk member progressing through a play-off.
They were the only Lancastrians, of a group more than 40 strong at the various qualifying venues, to make it into Final Qualifying.
Of the East Lancashire contingent, Pleasington amateur Joe Emery struggled to a score of nine-over at Hesketh, finishing at T86.
At Caldy on the Wirral, fellow Pleasington amateur Owen Leigh’s +1 saw him T15, two shots off a play-off, while Darwen’s Cameron Aspinall was T24 at +2, Wilpshire amateur Gregg Peel was T71 at +6, and Thomas Henderson, an amateur from Burnley, was T98 at +9.
A long drive south for Pleasington’s Tom Ryder didn’t end in glory after his +5 was only good enough for T80 at Minchinhampton in the Cotswolds.
Final Qualifying takes place on Tuesday, June 30, at Burnham & Berrow in Somerset, Dundonald Links on Scotland’s Ayrshire coast, Royal Cinque Ports in Kent and West Lancashire Golf Club north of Liverpool.
There players – including a smattering of tour pros who have not secured their place in The Open – will play two rounds in the day, with the top handful of players booking a spot at The Open.
The Open Championship takes place at Royal Birkdale in Southport on the West Lancashire coast from Thursday, July 16, to Sunday, July 19, with more than a hundred golfers competing for the Claret Jug and to be named Champion Golfer of the Year.
