Richard proudly holding his winner鈥檚 trophy. The tournament took place from 22-24 September 2019 at Hollinwell (Notts Golf Club).Despite not having the best summer golf-wise, I felt confident going into the weekend. However, I knew that the competition would be tough with some great players from other universities.
I鈥檝e been playing golf competitively for 12 years and this was the first time I鈥檇 played a competition of this magnitude. The night before, we walked the course and it made me feel more听comfortable going into the tournament.听
Competition day arrived and I got off to a great start, making a birdie on the first hole. This really helped to settle my nerves and boosted my听confidence for the rest of the round. In the end, I shot 73 (+1) in some tough conditions (and on a very difficult golf course) which put me in 4th place. I had听two more rounds to go and there were two other BU players in the top 15 (Joe Hack and Ross Murgatroyd at +5) so everything was听looking promising.
In the back of my mind, I did wonder if the third (and final) round might be cancelled听due to the storm that was forecast on Monday night. However, I didn't let this get to me and played one听shot at a time.听
I started my first round with two听bogeys which put me +3 for the tournament and +2 on the day. At this point, I thought I might miss the cut.听I got my game back听under control with听a birdie on the next hole and played the front 9 in -2. The highlight of my game came when听I played an eagle on the sixth听hole. The back nine听holes proved to be听a different kettle of fish though!听I made two听bogies on the 13th and 16th holes听which听put me at level par for the day and +1 for the tournament, with two听holes left to play.
I then went on to hit a terrible chip on the 17th hole which resulted in a par on the easy par 5. I did, however, hit my approach shot on the challenging 18th hole short right which left me about 25 yards to go. I picked where I wanted to land it and luckily enough it went in!听I ended up shooting a 71(-1) for the day and level par for the tournament which I was pleased with. Despite my start to the round, I was now one point听ahead of my nearest competitor and at the top of the leaderboard.
The final day of the tournament arrived. The weather was terrible and I was secretly hoping听that the day would be cancelled. I managed to keep a听positive mindset though and knew that if I was going to win, it would be a battle. As I听was going through my practice routine, torrential rain started to fall and 20 minutes听before I was about to tee off, play was suspended due to flooding. The organisers and the referees decided to cancel the day which meant that the tournament was a two-day rather than a three-day event. I had won and was crowned champion!
My winning shot was a chip in on the last hole for birdie in front of all my teammates听and the clubhouse which made the win that extra bit special. Being crowned champion of the BUCS Midlands Championship is my biggest golfing achievement so far. It also gave me a World Amateur Golf Ranking听鈥� something I鈥檇 waited a long time for.
Overall, it was a great tournament with three听BU golf players being placed in the top 15.
October 2019
