DORSET’S Martyn Thompson is undecided whether to pursue his bid to qualify for a third Open championship next month.
The Parkstone professional won the opportunity to add to his 1995 (St Andrews) and 1999 (Carnoustie) appearances by winning one of the 10 places up for grabs at yesterday’s regional qualifying event at Ferndown.
“I know it sounds silly to enter without knowing if I am going to take up the chance, but I had to give it a go and see how I felt afterwards,” said Thompson, who carded a one-under-par 70.
“I’ve always said there was one more Open in me and if I had loads of money I would be booking my flight to Scotland now, but I’m a family man and I need to decide whether I can afford it.”
Only four players from three final qualifying courses reach The Open at Turnberry.
“My passion for the game is still there and I’m playing well enough to shoot the eight-under-par or so necessary to qualify,” added Thompson. “But it’s a gamble and I’ve got to decide if it’s worth the £600 it would cost me.”
Morning starter Thompson was called back to Ferndown for a play-off after five players finished on the qualifying mark of 70.
When he left it looked certain that it would be good enough to qualify, until four players in the final two groups matched or bettered that score.
But the play-off never got started as Grant Slater (Trevose) was already on the road home to Cornwall and couldn’t get back in time and was automatically made the first reserve in his absence.
“It was a bit of an anti-climax,” said Thompson.
“There were a lot of people ready to watch the play-off and it’s a shame we couldn’t have put on a show for them,” added Thompson.
Also through are Dorset county star Kevin Garwood and Rushmoor’s Ben Stow who plays for Wiltshire and lost out in last year’s play-off. They both carded two-under-par 69s.
The Local Final Qualifying events are played at Glasgow Golf Club, Gailes Links, Kilmarnock and Western Gailes on July 6-7. The starting field for each course will be 96 players with four qualification places from each venue into The Open at Turnberry.
Qualifers from the Ferndown Regional Qualifying event (one of 16 venues): 66 Simon Stevenson (Taunton and Pickeridge); 67 Farren Keenan (Sunningdale) (A); 69 Ben Stow (Rushmoor) (A), Kevin Garwood (Ferndown and Surrey National) (A), Craig Bell (Cumberwell Park); 70 Martyn Thompson (Parkstone), Stuart Archibald (Blackmoor), Martin Sell (Golf Analysis Ltd), Jonathan Watt (Brokenhurst Manor) (A) 70. First reserve: 70 Grant Slater (Trevose). Key: A=amateur. Hole-in-one: Paul Warneford (Harleyford) at the 14th.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here