Rob Wheeler wins at Army GC and takes lead in Hampshire OOM

Report by Andrew Griffin.

ROB Wheeler claimed the famous Bren Gun Trophy for a second year in a row after winning Army Golf Club’s Men’s Open, beating former South East Junior Champion Tom Chalk by two shots, over the weekend.

But the North Hants GC member, who lives in Aldershot, had to produce a sensational comeback after lunch – with five birdies in six holes – to deny the US college golfer his first big win in men’s golf.
 

Wheeler trailed North Hants’ James Atkins by two shots at lunch, with Chalk also in a share of third place alongside the Hampshire first-team regular.

And Chalk, who is at the same Texas college where new Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands Amateur Champion Joe Buenfeld has spent the last four years, found himself propelled into the lead as the defending champion started his round with another double bogey.

Worse followed as he dropped three more shots in the next four holes to fall back to five-over par, as Chalk made two birdies in his first two holes.

A three at the sixth did little by way of repairing the damage, but his game caught fire with those five threes in six holes from the 10th – ironically the par-five 12th was the only hole he did not birdie until the 16th.

Chalk had dropped four shots from the fifth to the 12th, leaving Wheeler with a three-shot lead by the time he came off the 15th.

A bogey at the penultimate hole could not prevent him retaining the Bren Gun Trophy and his second Order of Merit win of the season saw him extend his lead over Liphook’s George Saunders, winner of the Hampshire Salver at Blackmoor, back in April.

Rob shot a level-par round of 71 in the morning despite getting off to a less than perfect start with a bogey and double bogey at the 10th and 11th after starting on the back nine.

He bounced back brilliantly with an eagle three at the 12th and got back to level-par with a birdie at the 15th.

Last year’s Hampshire Open winner, who also finished second in the Courage Trophy when the county’s strokeplay championship was also played at Army GC, dropped shots at the 17th and 18th, before bouncing back again with a birdie-four at the first.

He could not prevent another shot going at the second, but showed his mettle with another bounce-back birdie at the third, before a three at the seventh got him back to level.

Rob claimed the Waterlooville Challenge Bowl at the end of May as he warmed up for last week’s county championship on the Isle of Wight.

Wheeler finished on the same score as Pechell Salver Darren Walkley, but lost the trophy for the best 36-hole qualifying score at Shanklin & Sandown on countback.

He missed out in third place and was then beaten in the first round of the matchplay by Hartley Wintney’s Charlie Preston, the eventual beaten finalist.

But for the Order of Merit, his tied first place score earned him 16.33 points – a share of the total awarded to the first three finishers.
 

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