England’s David Coupland was one of 12 players to qualify for the British Open yesterday, after a stunning second-round 65 earned him first place at Monifeth.
The 21-year-old, from Boston in Lincolnshire, had three birdies in his final four holes to finish ahead of fellow amateurs Paul Waring and Llewellyn Matthews, as all three booked their place at Carnoustie next weekend.
“This is the best thing I’ve ever done in my life, ” said Coupland. “I’m speechless. It’s the first time I’ve tried to qualify and even though I came through the regional last week I wasn’t expecting anything.”
Monifeth was one of four Scottish courses in use for qualifying yesterday, with three places available from each. The events provided the last opportunity for players to earn a place at the Open.
At Panmure, English professionals Kevin Harper and Steve Parry were joined by New Zealander Steve Alker at five under par. The trio were spared a play-off when Carnoustie’s Eric Ramsay, who finished 23rd in the 2005 Open at St Andrews as an amateur, bogeyed the short 15th and parred the last three to miss out by one shot.
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David Shacklady’s course-record 62 at was enough to see the 40-year-old through at Montrose, where he finished tied for first place with Australian Matthew Ryans at nine under par. The third spot went to Ireland’s Justin Kehoe, two shots back at seven under par.
At Downfield, the course where Paul Lawrie qualified in 1999 before going on to win the Open at Carnoustie, Weymouth’s Jon Bevan qualified in first place with a ten-under total of 136, with Ireland’s David Higgins a shot behind in second.
The battle for the third qualifying spot was decided by a sudden-death play-off between 2004 Volvo PGA champion Scott Drummond, former European Tour player Mark Mouland, Farnham’s Ben Willman and Sheffield amateur Adam Hodkinson.
Drummond, 33, found a fairway bunker from the tee, but sent a five-iron from the sand safely onto the green and two-putted for par, while his rivals all scored bogeys, securing his berth at the second major championship on the year.
“Carnoustie is probably one of my favourite courses and to play the Open there will be great,” he said. “It would be great to follow in Paul Lawrie’s footsteps. I didn’t know he had qualified at Downfield, so to go along the route he took and do what he did would be fantastic. I knew I needed to shoot a low score to give myself a chance and I went out there and did it. It’s a great feeling.”
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Confirmation of qualifiers
(x) denotes amateur
Downfield (par 73)
136 Jon Bevan 71 65
137 David Higgins 71 66
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138 Scott Drummond 72 66
Monifieth (par 71)
134 (x) David Coupland 69 65
135 (x) Paul Waring 66 69, (x) Llewellyn Matthews 67 68
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Montrose (par 71)
133 David Shacklady 71 62, Matthew Zions (Aus) 65 68
135 Justin Kehoe 67 68
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Panmure (par 70)
135 Kevin Harper 67 68, Steve Alker (Nzl) 70 65, Steve Parry 68 67