Fylde coast golf: Amateur Championship, Open qualifying and tip of the week

RL&SA has shared hosting responsibilities with St Annes Old Links during the past two days of qualifying action, which saw the top 64 win through in one of the world amateur game's most prestigious events.

Each competitor played a round at both courses and South African Jonathan Broomhead produced an eagle-birdie finish at SAOL to emerge as leading qualifier with a seven-under total of 135.

It was the same mark as Englishman Barclay Brown for Hallamshire but Broomhead sealed top spot in the 288-man field via a card countback using the last six holes on both courses.They were one shot ahead of 2020 semi-finalist Mark Power.

First-round leader Ludvig Aberg from Sweden qualified eighth with Lytham Trophy winner John Gough in 12th.

Last year’s runner-up Monty Scowsill battled back to qualify on level par, having been seven over after his first 14 holes.

The cut came at one-over, which RL&SA player Callan Barrow scored only to miss out on countback.

Fellow home players Jamie Van Wyk and Louis Talarczyk totalled four over and 13 over respectively.

Fairhaven Golf Club has staged a series of tournaments in the build-up to next week’s regional qualifying for the 150th Open at St Andrews.

The Centenary Vase was contested over two rounds and won by Lee Williams (72+77=149). John McCombe was second (77+73=150) and Jason Moore third (75+75=150).

The Ladies' 36-hole Hilda Haynes Trophy was won by Angela Bradshaw with a score of 72+78=150. Gill Morris was runner-up (75+77=152) and Jenna Cooke had the best gross score (87+91=178).

Overall winner in the Ladies' third qualifier, collecting the Silver Spoon, was Carol Hughes (division one) with a 74. Other divisional winners were Susan Hart (div. two) and Yuyao Wang (div. three), both with 78.

The 4BBB Platinum Jubilee event was won by Phil Lavin and Adrienne Bennett with 42. Runners-up with the same score were Paul Mathison and Gill Mathison.

Overall winner of the Men's Captain's qualifier was Phil Mills (div. three) with 70 points. Division one winner Ian Brown scored 70 and division two's Phil Burrows 72.

Fairhaven is among 15 venues staging regional qualifying on Monday for next month’s Open.

Over 130 players will tee off between 6.45am and 2.25pm in an 18-hole bid to win places in the following week’s four final qualifying competitions, including the one at St Annes Old Links. Eighteen players will represent Fylde coast clubs at Fairhaven, including ‘home’ duo Darren Carlisle and Daniel Morris.

This week's top golf tip from Alastair Taylor, teaching professional at Herons' Reach GC, is to make sure your driver has the correct loft.

Most golfers now have adjustable drivers but all too often they change the loft down when their tee shots don't fly as they would like.

Two key factors influence how the ball launches from the club face – the angle of attack and the strike location on the face.

Angle of attack – whether the club is travelling up, level or down through impact – doesn't usually change much from drive to drive. What changes is strike location.

The loft the club is set to is usually at the centre of the club face. However, most golfers are not aware that an inch up from centre there is an extra five degrees of loft, while an inch down the face there are five degrees less. This means the ball may fly very differently depending on where the face strikes it.

So next time you are unhappy with the trajectory of your drive, pay attention to strike. Only alter the settings on your driver if you’re still not happy with the flight after a good strike.

To contact Ali email [email protected] or watch YouTube channel AliTaylorGolf for more free hints.

Knott End Ladies played in the Ping 4BBB Stableford, a nationwide competition in which the top 52 teams win through to the final at Thonock Park, Lincolnshire, in September.

Winners were Felicity Lawson and Lady Vice-Captain Jayne Emmington with 43 points. Lady Captain Linda Fearn and Elaine Blackburn were runners-up on 39.