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The Open Qualifying Series
23 June 2023
Regional Qualifying
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Almost 2,000 golfers dreaming of places in The 151st Open
One of the most enjoyable days in the golfing calendar is almost upon us as close to 2,000 golfers prepare to compete in Regional Qualifying for The 151st Open.
Regional Qualifying will take place at 15 of the most beautiful courses in Great Britain and Ireland on Monday 26 June.
Stories will emerge from each and every venue, with the leading finishers at each event earning places at Final Qualifying on Tuesday 4 July. A minimum of 16 players in Final Qualifying will then make it to Royal Liverpool for The 151st Open.
Some notable names will tee it up at Regional Qualifying on Monday, perhaps none more so than Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano – a seven-time winner on the DP World Tour – who will attempt to progress at Northamptonshire County.
Fernandez-Castano successfully made it through qualifying in 2021 to book his spot in The 149th Open at Royal St George's and will be looking to repeat the feat over the coming days.
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano has played in The Open seven times
The Harry S Colt-designed course will, in addition, play host to Sam Broadhurst – son of six-time DP World Tour winner and Ryder Cup player Paul – who made it through Regional Qualifying last year.
Former World Deaf Golf Champion Paul Waring will also be present in Church Brampton.
A star of our Tales of The Open podcast, Paul Dunne is another former DP World Tour winner who famously led The Open through 54 holes as an amateur at St Andrews in 2015, and he will be aiming to make it through at County Louth.
Also in the field at Baltray is Chase Koepka – brother of five-time major winner Brooks – and James Sugrue, winner of The Amateur Championship in 2019.
Sugrue poses with the Amateur Championship trophy in Portmarnock, Ireland
Other Amateur Championship victors in action next week include 2021 winner Laird Shepherd and 2016 champion Scott Gregory, while 2021 runner-up Monty Scowsill will travel to Lindrick with hopes of moving one step closer to Hoylake.
A host of players local to the Wirral links will be aiming to join Southport native Tommy Fleetwood in The 151st Open field. Among them are Royal Liverpool member Steven Capper and John Singleton - who famously qualified for the last Open at Hoylake, in 2014, when he was a factory worker. Capper and Singleton will be joined in Regional Qualifying at Caldy by Daniel Croft, who progressed through two stages of qualifying to feature in The 149th Open.
The 2019 Walker Cup was staged in Hoylake and three members of that year’s Great Britain & Ireland team – Conor Gough, Thomas Plumb and Sugrue – will be aiming to earn another few days at Royal Liverpool.
Sam Forgan (left) was all smiles after qualifying for The Open in 2021
Sam Forgan was the most prominent subject of our Road To The Open series in 2021, when the Felixstowe Ferry professional made it all the way through Regional and Final Qualifying at Prince’s to reach that year’s Open at Royal St George’s.
Forgan is trying his luck in Regional Qualifying again, this time at Burhill.
Meanwhile, speed golfer Luke Willett, who completed a round at Muirfield in just 42 minutes, will have the benefit of much more time when he tees off at North Hants.
The 15 Regional Qualifying venues are Alwoodley, Burhill, Caldy, County Louth, Ferndown, Goswick, Hesketh, Kedleston Park, Kilmarnock (Barassie), Lindrick, Minchinhampton (Composite), Moor Park (High), Northamptonshire County, North Hants, and Rochester & Cobham Park.
A photo of North Hants in the week prior to Regional Qualifying
Head to our Regional Qualifying page from 6:30am on Monday to view our live blog and keep up to date with all the action.
