Final Open qualifying today.

[Tony_Muldoon]

I believe conditions are fairly benign, slight wind from the North. Been a fair amount of rain of late so no rock hard greens and as of last Saturday, rough not as per usual for this time of year.

 Unfortunately work is keeping me away but one can follow live scoring here.


http://www.opengolf.com/en/Qualification/LocalFinalQualifying.aspx

36 holes Being played at four courses

Littlestone
Princes
RCPGC (Deal)
Rye


So far Littlestone most resistance to scoring and two 63’s at Rye – anyone know the record there?

[Michael Goldstein]

Does anyone know how many qualify from the final local qualifying?
Go the two kiwis!

[Adrian_Stiff]

I think 12 get through. 3 from each course. a 4th spot gives u an alternate spot which has a very good chance of getting in.

[Michael Goldstein]

Thanks Adrian,

I have not heard of Littlestone. What is it's story?

[Brent Hutto]

My first round of links golf was at Littlestone. Seemed a very friendly club, fine course, two-ball play only which is fine by me. I found it wide enough to play comfortably without feeling that I was swinging at narrow targets but given the frequent breezy conditions there is definitely lost-ball type fescue rough in play 'most everywhere. So not wide open but not at all tight.

The greens tend to be somewhat elevated and have plenty of shoulders, false fronts and so forth to shrug off indifferent approach shots. Not hard to make putts on but can be hard to get the ball onto the putting surface and keep it there. Not a very long course but certain parts play long in the prevailing wind. Very, very fine set of Par 3 holes.

Glorious setting, at least in summertime. Sea breezes, larks singing everywhere, the distant sound of the little steam train a mile or two away. Wonderful spot. Supposed to be a good winter course as well but I've only been there in late June.

[Bill_McBride]

Mackenzie did some good work at Littlestone.  The then par 5 16th was the model for the Channel hole on the Lido course by Macdonald as well as the 17th at Old Macdonald at Bandon Dunes.

The par 4 second had a dune line stretching clear across the green.  Mackenzie cut a gap through to open up most of the green to view, depending on your position off the tee.

It's a very fun links course with a strong finish.

[BCrosby]

"... two 63’s at Rye – anyone know the record there?"

It must have been a very calm day, no?

Please tell me I am right about that. I would like to think that Rye still has teeth in the wind.

Bob

[Tom_Doak]

Have they given up the qualifying rounds just before the tournament now?  When I lived there, the final qualifying rounds were on Monday and Tuesday just before the championship, and there were plenty of spots up for grabs in those.

[Adrian_Stiff]

Tom - Yes the whole changed about 10 years ago. It became a problem that some in the tournament the week before (Scottish Open) could not play in the Final Qual as it was Sunday & Monday. The Scottish Open used to be Sat finish but a sponsor change ordered a Sunday finish. The R & A could not move to a Monday - Tuesday so golfers had a choice of pulling out of the Scottish after round 3 and trying to PreQ. No one dumped the Scottish after making the cut so International Final Qualyfing got born, that takes place about a month before and of course there is a US version.
Local final qualyfing is different these days. You are right there are less spots, but its a bit easier to get it as the elite field (top 800 usually) compete via IFQ. A bit of the romantic bit has gone, but as time has moved on the money and logistics has ruled.

[Mark Chaplin]

Tom - The R&A have gone the way of international qualifying. Relative to the fields there are plenty of spaces for the tour players, in the USA 8 of 64 qualified and for the European Tour at Sunningdale 10 of 90. Today around 72 players are going for 3 places at each venue.

Sadly the odds of your pro or local amateur host shot getting through regional and final qualifying is pretty remote.

[Tony_Muldoon]

I understand little wind in AM.  Then as afternoon rounds began play suspended for thunder.  I know it’s restarted in Kent but Sussex courses were closed later.

 Wind then rose...anything could happen.  Play could easily continue for another hour.  Not often those guys are out for 15 hours.


There's an old joke about British weather having 4 seasons - all in one day.  3 Weeks ago Brian Sheehy and I played Deal in the AM in beautiful weather. So I went back out for a match in shorts and polo shirt. ON the 9th green it hailed.  Hard rain all down 10 and loud thunder on 11th tee. 25 mins cowering behind the hut and freezing, without any rain gear.  Won on 18th after we agreed 'good' good' when pins were under water.  Oh to be in England now June is here!

[Craig Disher]

Spent most of the day walking Littlestone. The weather was mild and warm until the weather delay after which the wind came up out of the north. We heard that Rye, Princes and RCP were pelted with rain. The potential for lightening stopped play around noon. On the advice of the national weather service, the R&A also stopped play at Littlestone although we saw neithe rrain nor violent weather the entire day. When I left the course around 7:30 only 4 or 5 groups had finished 36 holes. Play stopped at 8 and will begin tomorrow at 7am. The best score in the morning was one 67, -4; there were 4 69s and a slew of upper 70s. Even with the lack of wind, Littlestone's par 3s and devilish greens keep the scores at a modest level. I followed Markus Brier, an Austrian who's active on the European tour. He's a marvelous golfer, turned in a first round 69 without ever seeing the course before he arrived this morning.

[Mark Chaplin]

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150238510807171&set=a.431725557170.219009.517842170&type=1&theater

[Tony_Muldoon]

THe saga continue's, from the BBC. Scores are for 36 holes. Sudden death where they all play together.    The first at Deal 

Three players from each of the four courses; Littlestone, Prince's, Royal Cinque Ports and Rye, go through to the Open at Sandwich starting on 14 July.

Lake District professional Simon Edwards won at Prince's on seven under. Thomas Shadbolt and Francis McGuirk, on his home course, also qualified.

Prince's was the only course not to spill into a second day. There are play-offs to come at Royal Cinque Ports and Rye.

England's ex-Ryder Cup player Paul Broadhurst, whose 63 at St Andrews in 1990 still stands as the joint best round in a major, missed out by three at Cinque Ports.

Oxfordshire amateur Craig Hinton won at Royal Cinque Ports with a five-under score, leaving four players on four under in a play off on Wednesday. They included former Rookie of the Year Scott Henderson.

England amateur international Tom Lewi had rounds of 63 and 65 to win by three on eight under par from Oxford professional Adam Wootton.

Littlestone has over half the field to finish the second round.

[Adrian_Stiff]

Nice to see Francis McGuirk get in. A lot of pro's say its harder to get in the Open now, but there seems to be more amateurs and lesser names getting through. Flicking through the list, I think if was a top 500 UK golfer this would be my chosen route not IFQ. -5 for 36 seems to get in for 36. I remember -11s playing off one year when there were 6 spots.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Would love to hear more from those who were there, Craig, Mark?


If you click on the link above you can find a drop down box to show the results of each hole played.

At Rye toughest was no 4, and At Princes no 10 (which I guess is no 1 on Dunes - a great hole for the unsuspecting.)

Deal 14, 7, 18, 15. 9, 4, 12 ,1, 13 with the three par 5's the easiest.  NB the much talked about new tee at 3 has yet to be constructed and will stiffen the hole for them.




Adrian I believe he's the son of the owner? Nice draw.

[Scott Warren]

7 at Deal was the second toughest? Wow. I birdied that hole more than any other and can't remember more than a couple of bogeys, but the new sea wall tee will have stiffened things up.

4 as the 6th toughest is great. A bunkerless 150yd hole. Lovely!

[Scott Warren]

And no one eagled 16, playing at 508 yards!

AND 6 averaged over par (4.05).

Only four holes played under par - 3, 5, 10 and 16.

Thanks for the link, Tony.

[Craig Disher]

Unlike RCP and Rye, Littlestone did not split tee times between 1 and 10; about a third of the games finished this morning. There was a playoff for two positions; one player, Adam Smith, a pro from Tudor Park, qualified directly with the low score of 138 (-5). Five others at 139 had a sudden death playoff for the other two positions. Markus Brier birdied the first hole while the others parred. The last position was decided on the fourth hole (the 18th) when Lee Cornfeld from Burnham and Barrow birdied after a perfect pitch from the edge of the front right bunker. One player who missed the playoff by one shot blasted one of the longest drives I have ever seen. On the 18th, he drove the ball 410 yards. Several of us were behind the green and thought his approach was his third shot. He dropped it within 15 feet and made the eagle putt.

Overall, Littlestone played the most difficult of the four. The little 6th hole, only 160 yards and played with almost no wind, averaged 3.44 with 6 birdies, 30 bogeys, and 14 doubles - at least one of which was a triple. The rest of the par 3s were nearly as difficult.

I played Rye this afternoon and was surprised at how slow the greens were. It's possible they were affected by yesterday's rain. They were soft compared to Littlestone's - perhaps a consequence of the rain which never made it down the coast.

[Brent Hutto]

Was the hole location on Littlestone #6 hard up against the left edge maybe? I seem to recall it being front-left the day we played but if my memory is correct it's back-left that could be a real problem. Or maybe I'm remembering some other Par 3 green where I have no idea what to do if you miss left into the hay.

[Craig Disher]

Was the hole location on Littlestone #6 hard up against the left edge maybe? I seem to recall it being front-left the day we played but if my memory is correct it's back-left that could be a real problem. Or maybe I'm remembering some other Par 3 green where I have no idea what to do if you miss left into the hay.

The hole location was on the back right of the green. The tee was on the right so the flag appeared almost directly behind the bunker. All the shots I saw played to the green were to the left allowing for the ball to drift near the hole after landing. Brier played his shot directly at the hole, landed it 2' short with enough spin that the ball only rolled another 4-5'. He made the birdie. It was as though he played the shot onto a large snooker table and held it there. Just amazing skill.

[Jason Topp]

This has to be one of the best sets of qualifying venues that exists for any championship.

[Brent Hutto]

And they are qualifying to play on one of the finest Championship venues in the world, in my estimation.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Thanks to Jamie for a nice story from the guy from Tudor Park who was first Qualifier at Littlestone

“Underlining why Local Final Qualifying is of such value to The Open Championship, Smith said: I really cannot believe this has happened to me. I only entered qualifying this year because the events were in Kent. I haven’t got much money at the moment and I have been doing all kinds of part-time jobs to keep myself going — labouring, landscape gardening for one of my friends, and a bit of work as a carpenter’s mate.

I’m even using borrowed clubs this week, with one wedge that I found in my garage at home and another wedge that was in the lost property room at Tudor Park. My own irons and wedges are non-conforming, so I’ve had to borrow a set from a member. I only used them for the first time in practice last week, when I paid £25 to come down here for an extra practice round.”


I’m rooting for him.....to make the cut.