Regional Qualifying Round-Up

Craig Howie and George Bryan were among the headline acts as 124 players progressed from Regional Qualifying for The 154th Open.

RQ took place at 16 venues across Great Britain & Ireland on Monday, with 2,057 competitors teeing off with hopes of making it through to Final Qualifying, where places at Royal Birkdale will be up for grabs.

And no one fared better than Peebles professional Howie, who carded an astonishing 10-under 61 at Craigielaw to beat the previous course record by two and emphatically claim leading qualifier honours.

Scoring was low at Craigielaw throughout the day, with Erik Johansson and James Steven each carding seven-under 64s before a play-off was required between the five men who finished on six-under. Jackson Bell, Jordan Sundborg, Aidan O’Hagan and Christopher Edge made it through as Patrick Pockels was eliminated.

At Hesketh, a three-under 68 saw Bryan – one half of the popular Bryan Bros with his sibling Wes – finish at the top of the standings alongside Australian amateur Abel Eduard.

Bryan was a star attraction at Hesketh and happily posed for post-round photos with fans after his fine round, which featured six birdies.

Edmondstown amateur Liam Abom shot an eight-under 64 to finish as the leading qualifier at The Island, two shots clear of Alex Maguire, who played at The Open in 2023.

There was an eight-man play-off for the final spot at the Irish venue, which ended with Christoph Bleier prevailing courtesy of a putt from off the green for his second successive birdie.

Zane Scotland, who first played in The Open at the age of 16 in 1999, is 36 holes away from returning to golf’s original championship for the first time since 2010 after claiming one of the eight qualifying spots at Rochester & Cobham Park.

His three-under 68 was bettered only by Haiden Matos, Joshua Bristow and Jacob Hassan, who all went round in 67 at a venue where former Premier League footballer Jimmy Bullard posted a 72.

Robert Rock, a veteran of eight Open appearances, made it through a play-off at Enville, while two other players with experience of The Open, Graeme Robertson and 2018 Silver Medallist Sam Locke, were among the qualifiers from Kilmarnock (Barassie).

Peter Finch made it through to Final Qualifying 12 months ago, but came up narrowly short this time around at Lindrick. Finch was one-under through 13 holes, a score that would have been good enough to progress, but a bogey on the 14th and a double-bogey at the 16th saw him finish two shots outside a play-off at two-over. The Lindrick qualifiers were headed by Samuel Potter of Kedleston Park, who carded a four-under 66.

There was a stunning finish at Caldy, where West Lancashire amateur Jason Renton eagled the third play-off hole to make it through at the expense of former Walker Cup player James Ashfield. Charlie Ford of Royal Birkdale had already been eliminated earlier in the play-off after all three men finished on one-under.

Matthew Tottey’s five-under 67 represented the best score of the day at Caldy, while Joseph Dodd-Berry made it through with his brother Matthew, who came through Final Qualifying two years ago, on the bag. YouTuber Rick Shiels went round in 76.

Tom Sloman topped the Ferndown leaderboard with a 66 having gone out in game one at 7am, while seven of the eight qualifiers at Fulford posted the same score.

Moortown amateur Oliver Cage led the way with a five-under 67, while his clubmate Will Swarbrick was one of seven players to shoot 68, along with Richard Law, Lucas Martin, Gordan Brixi, Will Whiteoak, Marcus Brigham and Ben Hutchinson.

Charles Huntzinger’s seven-under 65 ensured he was the first of three American qualifiers at Chart Hills, ahead of Charlie Dubiel and Adrian Soriano, while Giles Evans’ 64 was the pick of the scores at Gog Magog, where Josh Rudkin came through a 10-man play-off to secure the final place.

Kevin O'Connell may not have qualified at North Hants, but he had a moment to savour when he made an albatross two at the par-5 3rd.

Players to qualify at Regional Qualifying:

Bearwood Lakes: Henry Daly (-4), Timothy Shin (-4), Reggie Fear (-4), Tommy Obergan (-3), Nicolas Calvet (-3), Jonathan Hobson (-2), Taylor Paul (-2) Callum Davison (-2)

Caldy: Matthew Tottey (-5), Joseph Pagdin (-4), Ashley Williams (-3), Joseph Dodd-Berry (-3), Marcus Mohr (-3), Luke Woods (-3), Tom Parker-Thompson (-3), Jason Renton (-1).

Chart Hills: Charles Huntzinger (-7), Charlie Dubiel (-5), Adrian Soriano (-4), Oliver Daws (-4), Luke Jenkins (-4), Ryan Boyns (-4), Max Moseley (-3).

Craigielaw: Craig Howie (-10), Erik Johansson (-7), James Steven (-7), Jackson Bell (-6), Jordan Sundborg (-6), Aidan O’Hagan (-6), Christopher Edge (-6).

Enville: Haydn McCullen (-7), Haraldur Magnus (-7), Charlie Salter (-5), Ryan Brooks (-5), Ben Jenks (-4), Jayden Phipps (-4), Robert Rock (-4), James Thompson (-4).

Ferndown: Tom Sloman (-5), Ryan Harmer (-4), Joshua Davies (-3), Michael Bullen (-3), Paul Hendriksen (-3), Ben Evans (-3), Jake Bolton (-2), Joseph Buenfeld (-2).

Fulford: Oliver Cage (-5), Richard Law (-4), Will Swarbrick (-4), Lucas Martin (-4), Gordan Brixi (-4), Will Whiteoak (-4), Marcus Brigham (-4), Ben Hutchinson (-4).

Gog Magog: Giles Evans (-6), Arron Edwards-Hill (-5), Laurie Owen (-4), Robert Holden (-4), James Biggs (-4), Michael Chambers (-3), Sam Epstein (-3), Josh Rudkin (-2).

Hesketh: Abel Eduard (-3), George Bryan (-3), Neil Williams (-2), Bryan Hughes (-2), Simon Lucas (-2), Andrew Haswell (-1), Daniel Wilson (-1), Timothy Ford (-1).

Kilmarnock (Barassie): John M Vogelpohl (-7), Craig Lee (-6), Graeme Robertson (-5), Sam Locke (-5), Robbie Morrison (-4), Jack Broun (-4), Mark Young (-3).

Lindrick: Samuel Potter (-4), Ben Hall (-3), George Mason (-3), Sam Rook (-2), Josh McAspurn (-2), Keir Stockdale (-1), James Whatley (-1), Nicholas Raybould (E).

Minchinhampton: Owen Edwards (-4), Tyko Tuohimaa (-4), Ellis Bright (-4), Oliver Farr (-4), Tiger Christensen (-3), Jack Cope (-3), Nikolas Tyminski (-3), Adam Curtis (-3).

Moor Park: Connor O’Brien (-5), Victor Veyret (-4), Markus Braadlie (-4), Mike Toorop (-4), Luke Goddard (-4), Andres Gallegos (-3), Harley Smith (-3).

North Hants: Robbie Flower (-5), Zach Murray (-4), Angus Flanagan (-3), Oliver Martin (-3), Charlie Preston (-3), Robert Dinwiddie (-2), Jack Kelly (-1), Egor Zotov (-1).

Rochester & Cobham Park: Haiden Matos (-4), Joshua Bristow (-4), Jacob Hassan (-4), Tom Sherreard (-3), Zane Scotland (-3), James Heard (-2), Todd Adcock (-2), Justin Chenu (-2).

The Island: Liam Abom (-8), Alex Maguire (-6), Cian Geraghty (-4), Jake Hapgood (-4), Patrick Foley (-4), Jordan Boles (-3), Ruaidhri McGee (-3), Christoph Bleier (-2).