Regional Qualifying

Dreams of playing in The 151st Open are very much alive for the 117 golfers who came through Regional Qualifying on Monday.

Fifteen venues across Great Britain and Ireland hosted almost 2,000 players who were trying to move into Final Qualifying and just one step away from the Royal Liverpool showcase next month.

You can visit our live blog to see how all the action unfolded.

Joe Retford stole the show at Minchinhampton by achieving his second course record at the Cotswolds venue.

Retford shot a course-record 61 on the Avening Course in the South West County Championships last year.

And he made it a unique double by equalling the Composite Course record of 65 as he stormed to the top of the leaderboard, easily securing a place in Final Qualifying.

“There’s something about this course, it seems to keep happening,” Retford said afterwards.

Despite finishing two shots outside the qualification places, it was a day to remember for 17-year-old Drew Sykes who hit a hole-in-one on the very first hole at North Hants.

It was some day, too, for Ryan Riley. He hit the very first shot at Goswick on Monday morning, signed for a 71, then was forced to return home to Darlington.

He did not expect to be able to return to the course, but he did eventually make it back for a play-off, completing a four-hour round journey to do so. Amazingly, he then holed out for an eagle on the first extra hole to book his place in Final Qualifying.

Michael Henson, playing in the third-last group at Goswick, swooped in with a 68 which catapulted him to the top of the leaderboard.

“I three-putted the second and then didn’t miss another putt,” he said.

Low scores were hard to come by on the majority of the 15 courses, with strong winds being a major factor, particularly in the north west.

Caldy – on the Wirral, close to Hoylake – took the brunt of the gales with only three players coming home under-par; Ben Chamberlain, Jack Brooks and Mark Kimpton.

George Bloor was the only player to get into minus figures a bit further south at Kedleston Park.

Meanwhile, the international nature of The Open was best evidenced at Burhill, where players from seven different countries (in leaderboard order; Germany, England, Australia, Netherlands, Spain, South Africa and South Korea) all advanced.

Germany’s Julius Kreutzer did not have time to practise after arriving in England at 1am on Monday morning, but he somehow found another gear to top the Burhill leaderboard on five-under-par.

Final Qualifying for The 151st Open will take place at Dundonald Links, Royal Cinque Ports, Royal Porthcawl and West Lancashire on Tuesday 4 July.

The Open will be staged at Hoylake between 20-23 July.

Here’s the list of players who have progressed to Final Qualifying:

Alwoodley (8): David Hague (-6), Rob Booth (-1), Richard Law (E), Connor McKinney (E), Nick McCarthy (E), Luke Northwood (+1), Brett Taylor (+1), Ben Hutchinson (+1).

Burhill (8): Julius Kreutzer (-5), Max Brackley (-3), Nick Lloyd (-3), Wouter De Vries (-3), Alvaro Roldos (-1), Craig Farrelly (-1), Nico Els (-1), Dongwon Kim (E).

Caldy (8): Ben Chamberlain (-2), Jack Brooks (-1), Mark Kimpton (-1), Joseph Pagdin (E), Danny Belch (E), Fraser Macleod (E), Jacob Oakley (E), George Holland (+1).

County Louth (7): Kevin Le Blanc (-5), Brendan McCarroll (-3), Stuart Grehan (-3), Gerard Dunne (-2), Brian McCormack (-2), Daniel Mulligan (-1), Jake Hapgood (-1).

Ferndown (8): Bradley Cox (-3), Ryan Pope (-3), Billy McKenzie (-3), Sam Whitehead (-3), Ben Evans (-2), Daley Loumanis (-2), Trystan Perkins (-2), Aaron van Hauwe (-2).

Goswick (8): Michael Henson (-4), David Clark (-3), Cameron Adam (-3), Paul Reilly (-2), Jordan Clements (-2), Jack McDonald (-2), Ryan Riley (-1), Morgan Blythe (-1).

Hesketh (8): Jack McPhail (-3), John-Ross Galbraith (E), Maximilian Rohrig (E), Phoenix Campbell (E), Paul Kinnear (E), Luke Quint (+1), Nick Marsh (+1), Stephen Croman (+1).

Kedleston Park (8): George Bloor (-4), Alexander Ford (E), Ben Loveard (E), Jake Plumb (+1), Thomas Beasley (+1), Connor Worsdall (+1), Seb Cave (+1), Rory McDonald-O’Brien (+1).

Kilmarnock (Barassie) (7): Jack McDonald (-3), Joachim Altonen (-3), Scott Kerr (-2), Greg Dalziel (-2), Bradley Neil (-2), Jack Doherty (-1), Darren Howie (-1).

Lindrick (7): Oliver White (-3), Monty Scowsill (-2), Ilari Saulo (-1), Thomas Warnock (E), Nick Raybould (E), Sam Stokes (E), Joe Dean (E).

Minchinhampton (8): Joe Retford (-7), James Frazer (-5), Harry Boyle (-4), Calum Fitzgerald (-4), Toby Hunt (-3), Mike Downey (-3), Jake Burnage (-3), Sam Edwards (-3).

Moor Park (8): George Castle (-4), Mark Talbott (-3), Luke Goddard (-3), Adam Batty (-3), Jon Hopkins (-3), Max Shirvell (-3), Dylan Hussey (-3), Erik Flores (-3).

Northamptonshire County (8): Ryan Evans (-4), Arjun Sharma (-3), Jack Peters (-2), Gunner Wiebe (-2), Robin Williams (-1), Aidan Abbott (-1), James Biggs (-1), Jevann Parmar (-1).

North Hants (8): David Puig (-3), Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (-2), Angus Flanagan (-1), Luke Stock (-1), Kevin O’Connell (-1), James Anstiss (E), Jamie Debrou (E), David Rudd (+1).

Rochester & Cobham Park (8): Davide Buchi (-4), Mason Essam (-3), Joshua Bristow (-3), Jordan Godwin (-2), Michael Farrier-Twist (-1), Daniel Smith (-1), Jack Colegate (-1), James Whyte (E).