How hard is it to qualify for the open?

Every year around the end of June, every aspiring golfer comes out of hibernation to pursue their dream of qualifying for the biggest prize in golf, 'The Open'. Remarkably 3 of the last 4 years Ben's managed to pull his finger out and qualify for the final stages, and even managed to chop his way to a couple of wins along the way.
But whats even more interesting, his current success rate at final stage is still better than his online dating tinder matches of 0-3...... 

Now most of you will know how the system works, on a normal non covid year, everyone outside the top 1000 OWGR has to go straight to regional qualifying competing for around 7-11 spots into final stage where there are eventually 3 spots. To enter all you all have to do is have a handicap of scratch or below or have taken the plunge to turn professional.

This sounds simple, but if you want to qualify through the final stages into the real thing you really do have to raise the bar....

Since the age of 12 when I started playing, my dream has always been to qualify for the open and between the ages on 12-19 my main motivation was to get my handicap down to scratch as soon as I could. Unfortunately until the age of 18 I was stuck on a 3 handicap with no real chance of getting any lower. I was heavily overweight around 17 1/2 stone and never really had the confidence to fit into any groups, and didn't even get considered into the Yorkshire county setup until I was 20. 'If your face fits' they say, well in this case my face was far too chubby to fit. 

It was until I finished 6th form and decided to have a gap year where I finally managed to break that barrier. And in 3 months my handicap plummeted from 3.3 handicap to -2.1. Which for anyone to know on the old system to have that big of a drop you have to be seriously consistent and the only way for that to happen is having a big change in your approach to playing golf. ​

I'd put this initial improvement down to 3 factors:
1. I'd met Duncan Mccarthy at Moortown GC who put together blitz fitness classes for golfers of all sizes. In 3 months I'd lost over 4 stone and got myself fitter than i'd ever been. This was Circuit training blasts which put you through an hour of hell twice a week. Put it this way, for anyone who did these classes, twice a week was more than enough as it would take 4 days to recover in time for the next class.
2. I started working at Leeds Golf Centre, which gave me the opportunity to start having regular golf lessons at a discounted rate in return for extra clients. At the time Dan Seaman (yes the goalkeepers son) offered to help me out for free after seeing how bad I use to swing the club.
3. Duncan also started some mental work with me at the golf course to get my pre shot routines more fluid and help with channeling thoughts to get me prepared for a competitive environment. 

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My first attempt at open regional qualifying was at my 2nd home, Moortown GC, where I managed to shoot level par to sneak in at 3rd place tied with Nick McCarthy, I was 3 under on a very nervy back 9 which set me up for my first time at Final qualifying over in southport at Hillside GC. 

My 2nd attempt was at Fairhaven where i managed to win with a score of level par due to extremely firm ground conditions (2018 drought). 

Both years at final stage proved that I still wasn't ready for the 36 shootout against some of the worlds best. I wont lie, both these experiences felt like I was a little out of my depth with youth and the quality of players next to me on the range like peter Uihlien and Robert Rock aka Captain stripeshow. ​

Since then I've been determined to raise my own level, and have looked at every aspect of how I can improve myself on and off the course to give myself the best chance of competing in golfs biggest competition.

Most noticeably since making changes in my diet and approach to fitness with the help from Phil Holmes & Will Wayland, to swing changes with long time coach Joe Feather and physio Paul Farqueson and more in depth performance / analysis with Steve Robinson. In 2019 I finally managed to achieve a lowest handicap of -4.6 when I won Regional qualifying for the 2nd time in a row at Firthaven (also known as fairhaven) with a round of -5 67.

The 3rd time felt totally different, it was the first time where i'd got through and felt comfortable in the position and level of golf I was competing at. I'd come into the event with a lot of confidence with a recent 4th place finish in the Brabazon trophy and course record in the English Amateur. I was relaxed, but unfortunately a slow start of 4 over front 9 stopped any chance of getting through, but finally a 3 under par 2nd round proved that I could score at this level. 

What happened this year?

Now unfortunately this year didn't go quite to plan, I shot 3 over par at Hollinwell for the regional qualifying and super disappointed as I felt like my game was good enough to get through to finals again.

Leading up to it, I had a high level of motivation with missing out on last year, I decided to get some extra practice in on my short game by going back late to the golf club after having dinner to get a couple of extra hours practice in, and even withdrew from the Europro event just to prioritise Open Q. However this kind of backfired as I was very sloppy on the day and missed a few short putts. Very unlike me. 

But lessons learned. I'm taking a some time off from travelling to concentrate on getting a few things ironed out upstairs and recover from a bit of mid season burnout. ILL BE BACK!

So from past experience of playing final qualifying and seeing a couple of my old Yorkshire squad friends Sam Bairstow + Nick Poppleton get through yesterday I've simplified what I think you need to be to give yourself the best chance of qualifying for golf's biggest prize, not the British open..... The Open 

Minimum requirements for Amateurs: 
- Handicap of +2 or better with the new WHS.
- Able to win at county mens level
- Recorded stats for at least 1 full season
- Has been a member at a reasonably hard golf course or previous open venue
- Threatened a course record a few times.

This would most likely get you through 1st stage on your very best day.

Ideal Requirements to get through Final Stage
- Handicap of -4 or better with old system this may even be -6 now?
- Reasonable fitness level and have played in 4 round events regularly.
- Able to compete at national level amateur events
- Previous history of winning events on respected golf courses
- Driver Carry of at least 265+ yards
- World class from inside 100 yards, especially short game + putting 

And if you can put all of that together with a big set of bollucks you may have a chance of qualifying for the Open.

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