The 17th hole at Lindrick, host of last week’s English Amateur Championship, is a short par-4 with apparently little to frighten even the average golfer. Yet, in the 1982 Martini International, Greg Norman contrived to take 14 blows there. It was, in short, the Shark’s Nemesis and, whatever that hole has, the PGA Tour desperately wants some of it.
There was no equivalent drama on the final day of action in the men’s and women’s events at the end of a long week on the course, which famously hosted the 1957 Ryder Cup (the stroke-play section had been shared with nearby Worksop Golf Club).
Key to the Englishman’s success was the decision to limit his use of the driver to a mere 10 strikes all week and just two in the 36-hole final.
In the men’s championship Joe Sullivan of Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club caused an upset, surprising even himself, in not only making the final but overcoming George Ash, of Hallowes Golf Club, 3 and 1.
“It’s huge for me because I haven’t really achieved anything like this at all,” Sullivan said. “I’ve been working hard but missing a lot of cuts, then it all came together this week.”
Key to the Englishman’s success was the decision to limit his use of the driver to a mere 10 strikes all week and just two in the 36-hole final. “My 3-wood goes as far as most people’s drivers,” he said. “But I just didn’t need it this week. It fitted my strategy to keep it in the bag.”
He claimed the notable scalp of Luke Poulter, son of Ian, in the last eight and then took on the last standing representative of the formidable Sheffield contingent on Sunday. The city of steel lies just a few miles from Lindrick (once known as Sheffield and District Golf Club), and a host of amateur golfers are following in the footsteps of major-championship winners Danny Willett and Matt Fitzpatrick, who both hail from there.
Among them is Sam Bairstow, runner-up in this year’s Amateur Championship, who caddied for Ash in the 36-hole final, repaying the debt after the roles had been reversed in the Open Championship at St Andrews two weeks ago. The gallery also was largely made up of friends and family of Dronfield-based Ash, who afterwards was upset that he didn’t deliver the win they had all desperately wanted.
In the women’s event Abbie Teasdale, playing out of Royal Fremantle Golf Club in Western Australia, defeated England’s Davina Xanh, from Mendip Spring in Somerset, 1-up. In one sense, Teasdale was defending the trophy for her home state, after the triumph of Perth’s Kirsten Rudgeley 12 months ago. But 19-year-old Teasdale is also a native of Manchester, and her parents have returned there this year.
As with Ash, family and friends turned out in force for Teasdale and one of them, in particular, contributed to the triumph when the battery died on her electric trolley early in the afternoon round of the final. With Teasdale trailing by three holes at the time, her brother Joe stepped in as bagman and his chatter freed up his sister, allowing her golf to thrive.
“He got me talking about my shots, and within seven holes of joining me I was 1-up,” she said afterward. “It was hard work at the end there. I wasn’t actually tired, physically or mentally. I was just a bit too eager to get the job done. I’m so happy because this is easily my biggest achievement and I’m so pleased to reward Royal Freo because they had a fundraiser for my trip. They’ve been so good to me.”
Coached by Ritchie Smith, who also looks after LPGA major champions Minjee Lee and Hannah Green, Teasdale maintained a golden summer of success for Western Australian amateurs in British tournaments. Connor McKinney and Adam Brady, of Joondalup Country Club, finished first and second, respectively, in the St Andrews Links Trophy, and their former club teammate Aldrich Potgieter, now representing South Africa, defeated Bairstow to win the Amateur Championship.
North of the border, 16-year-old Oliver Mukherjee of Gullane claimed the Scottish Amateur Championship to become the youngest winner of the title. He secured his place in the record books with a 1-up victory over Gregor Tait in the final at Western Gailes.
RESULTS
Staff and Wire Reports