Hampshire Salver (Selbourne salver & Hampshire Hog)

The Hampshire salver is a 72 hole world ranking event that is made up of 2 individual 36 hole events. The Selbourne salver at Blackmoor golf club and the Hampshire Hog at North Hants golf club.

The first was the Selbourne salver at Blackmoor, a par 69 narrow heathland course. A birdie on the first was a great start however, a bogey at the 5th and a small putt missed on 9 meant I was out in +1. A plugged ball in the bunker which I couldn’t move on 11 led to a good bogey in the end. I bounced back with birdies on 12 & 13 to get back on track. 1 more bogey followed for a 70 (+1). A round where a couple of silly mistakes were matched with some good shots. -2 was leading after round 1 so I still had a good chance going into the 2nd round.

I don’t know what I ate at lunch time but nothing seemed to work in the afternoon! Starting on the 10th a combination of bad approach shots and poor shots around the greens including long putts led to bogeys on 10,11 and 17 to be out in +3. At this point I really was struggling to get any momentum and confidence. This continued with bogeys at 3 & 4 and the 72 overall event was starting to get away from me. I then reached the par 5, 8th, with 3 iron in hand. I thought if I could birdie this and par the last it wouldn’t be a complete disaster. But golfs not like that, it was preferred lies and as I put my ball down I didn’t like the lie so I picked it back up with my tee still in the ground and moved it. This, however, to my amazement is a penalty as you’re only allowed to put it down once even with the tee still down. Something I will learn from and never do again. This led to a sorry 7 and a round of 76 (+7) I have to say I never saw that coming and didn’t think was in me.

After some harsh reviewing I was motivated to prove to myself and others that the 76 was a one off. North Hants golf club is a par 70 which is longer but slightly more forgiving. Starting at the 10th my play had not got any better but somehow I was keeping myself in there. 3 good approach shots all led to birdies whilst some wild carves led to 3 bogeys to be out in level. A 30ft putt dropped on the 1st for birdie and a Seve-esk par on 2 was embarrassingly great. Walking off that green I found something in my swing, a 3 wood and 5 iron to 4ft led to an eagle on the par 5 3rd. I found a fairway bunker on 5 leading to a bogey and a 20/25ft putt on 6 for birdie saw me in with 67 (-3) putting me tied 1st.

I wanted to back this up in the afternoon and started out a lot more consistent. I birdied the 3rd with stress-free pars either side of this to be -1 thru 5. A bad 3 wood on 6 started a calamity of errors on that hole with a chip out from a horrible lie coming to rest by a tree root therefore I couldn’t move it very far, a semi-thinned pitch put me in more trouble leading to a triple bogey 7. I knew I was playing well so I just had to stay patient and keep going. A couple of holeable birdie putts went by and I was out in 2 over. A 25ft putt on 10 got one back and started one of the best back nines I’ve ever played. I putt it to 6ft on 13, 3ft on 15 and held a 20 footer on 17 contributing to 3 birdies along with making a satisfying 10ft putt on 16 for par. I was back in 31(-4) hitting 17 greens leading to a round of 68 (-2).

This saw me win the Hampshire Hog by 4 shots with a total of 135 (-5) and join a list of winners which include Michael Bonallack, Sandy Lyle and Justin Rose. When the score cards go through I should be off +4 which I’ve never been before and hopefully my world ranking will go down after finishing around 3rd in the overall. I knew it was in me and I’m glad to now show in a competition that I can do it.

I have 10 days now to prepare for Lytham, a tournament I love, and to prove that my performance this weekend is not a fluke. I’ve set an expectation level for myself therefore I need to work harder to maintain it. I’ve had a lot of well done messages from everyone so I just want to say thank you very much for all your support.