Day one of final qualifying for my EuroPro Tour card and I was starting on the more difficult red course on the back nine first.
Playing over 7,000 and very slick greens it is a true championship course but I couldn’t wait to get playing
Bit of a tricky day in the high winds and scattered showers, I hit the ball very well but was really struggling to come to terms with the fast slick greens, the rain had not slowed them at all and was a frustrating day as putt after putt just seemed to glide by and not drop.
Just one birdie with 6 bogeys and a double meant a 79 opening round and a tough second day would lie ahead.
Day two and I thought if I could get off to a good start and make a few birdies who knows, the blue course is slightly easier than the red but again with tough playing conditions you never know what can qualify so just hang in there.
I would say it was more very steady rather than a spectacular round as I made par after par after par, very good golf but I was not gaining any ground on the cut mark
Then a familiar sight appeared as a rain storm overhead turned into a hailstorm and play was halted for 45mins whilst the green keepers dealt with the flooding on the greens
With only 4 holes left to play was very frustrating just standing in the middle of the fairway for nearly an hour until play was resumed but once it did I made a great finish of birdie followed by 3 pars for a nice round of 74, two over par
In total for 36 holes I finished +9 with +4 being the cut, just 5 shots away and can easily look back at where I lost them in my two rounds.
Great experience again playing against 240 of the best players in the country, I do have a better category now and look forward to playing on EuroPro this year as well as Jamega Tour and qualifying for the Open
Thanks for all the support and well wishes, it’s much appreciated
Matt
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