Hampshire Open Report

ROBERT Wheeler became just the second player to land the Hampshire Open and the Hampshire Golf Order of Merit in the same season after a dramatic birdie at the last hole at Hockley GC.

The North Hants GC member - who started the tournament with a double after losing his drive on the first hole at Twyford Down - produced his 15th birdie of the day to post 10-under par and pip Stoneham's Alex Talbot to the Parkersell Trophy, thanks to two 66s.

Having gone over the back of the green on the short downhill par-five, Wheeler, who has spent the last three winters honing his game on the Portugal Pro Tour as part of his degree course at St Mellion's Tournament Golf College, in Cornwall, played a sublime chip to within a foot of the hole for the simplest tap in to secure the biggest win of his career.

Wheeler - who was on seven-under with three holes to play - revealed he had checked the online leaderboard while stood on the 16th tee.

He revealed: “I don't normally look at my phone to check the scores during a tournament, unless I am playing well and can see what I might need to do with a couple of holes left.

“I focus on the things I can control, so don't worry about what other players are doing too much. But I saw Alex Talbot had posted nine-under and as I was in the last group, and with two titles on the line, I had a look.

“‘I knew I needed to make three birdies over the last three holes, which is very doable at Hockley, particularly if there is no wind. It's downhill, although normally into the wind.

“I made a 20-footer for a two on the 16th, which boosted my confidence even further. I hit my wedge to 10-feet and holed the putt for a three on the 17th.

“My game plan at Hockley is the last hole is all about keeping the tee shot on the fairway. From there, the green is very wide, so if  you can find the putting surface you should be able to two-putt.

“There are a couple of bad misses depending on where the pin is but when my second went through the green and ended up over the back, I still had a chance and hit a great chip to a foot.”

The 22-year-old was delighted to get the win, having claimed his first Order of Merit win at Army GC's Bren Gun Open back in June, after losing his place in the Hampshire first-team.

A beaming Wheeler added: “I made seven birdies in the morning and eight in the afternoon. The plan was to hit fairways and greens and let my putting and chipping do the talking.

“I can't think of a tournament in which I have started with a double and then produced so many birdies, to post a total in double figures. That just proves how well I played.

“When I lost my ball in the rough on the first, my dad Adrian was on the bag, and I just said, ‘At least I have 35 holes to put it right,' which I did brilliantly.”

Wheeler had seen former Southampton footballer Paul Telfer spike his dream of landing the Courage Trophy at the Hampshire strokeplay championship just 72 hours earlier at Army GC.

But second place had given him a crucial 3.17-point lead over clubmate James Atkins in the race for the Cullen Quaich, and Atkins, who works at the famous Wentworth Club, took himself out of the running for the Order of Merit with a first round 79.

Rob said: “I had a quick look at the scores at lunch and saw what James had shot, so I was able to put the Order of Merit to the back of my mind and focus on winning the Open.”

Wheeler became the first North Hants member to claim the Hampshire Open since Billy Watson took the title as an amateur back in 2015, and the eighth different amateur to land the title since 1967.

He beat 19 Hampshire PGA club pro's in the field as well as 20 amateurs including Telfer, who also played for Luton, Coventry, Celtic and Leeds in a long career.

But spare a thought for runner-up Alex Talbot. The 2016 Hampshire Junior Champion has struggled with form and fitness while on a golf scholarship on the States, not helped by the disruption during COVID.

Stoneham member Talbot broke the course record at Hockley five years ago with a 63, having watched defending champion Owen Grimes shoot a then record 64 before lunch in the 2019 Delhi Cup, but had to settle for second place.

Having headed across the Atlantic at the end of that summer, the Boise State graduate, who won the Faldo Wales Series in 2018, opened the Hampshire Open with a round of 69 to lie in a tie for fourth.

Stoneham club pro Adam Hickling had led at lunch after a fine 65, but Talbot overtook his club pro with a 64, one more than his course record, despite making two bogeys in his first five holes.

An eagle two at the sixth got him back to level, and after a birdie two at the eighth, he reeled off five birdies in a row from the 10th, only to drop a shot at the 15th.

Playing with Hockley pro Gary Stubbington,  the former Hartpury UK College Champions team member, made two birdies at 16 and on the last to come up one shy again on Twyford Down.

Wheeler is also the first member from North Hants Golf Club to win Cullen Quaich, since its foundation in 2014, becoming the sixth different winner - joining former Hampshire captains Colin Roope (2016 and 2018), Martin Young (2019) and Toby Burden (2021 and 2022) on the honours board.

Defending champion Darren Walkley, from Liphook, who won the Quaich the first two times it was played for in 2014 and 2015, became the first golfer to win it three times last year, but was not in the running going into the last two events, and missed them both.

But Wheeler knew he had to have a ticket to be in it to win it, and executed his game plan perfectly to beat the 19 Hampshire PGA club pro's in the field as well as 20 amateurs including Telfer, who also played for Luton, Coventry, Celtic and Leeds in a long career.

Telfer was bidding to become the first-ever player to win the Courage and the county Open in the same year, as well as the ninth amateur to win the Parkersell Trophy.

That feat fell to Wheeler, who joins past winners Richard Bland - who collected the trophy six years in a row in the 1990s - three times as an amateur and then as a PGA member - and Hockley's Brian Winteridge (1976 and 1981) to have their name on the trophy..

Bland, the current Senior PGA and US Senior Open champion, won three Hampshire Opens in a row as an amateur between 1993 and 1995 - and extended that winning sequence to six in a row by claiming the next three after joining the PGA ranks.

Return to News Page

Created by intelligentgolf version 10.1.2.