Taxi driver Danny wins English

mid-am for over-35s

FROM THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
Things like this don’t happen to people like me,” was the reaction of Danny Holmes after he proved a surprise yet deserved winner of the English Mid Amateur Championship for the Logan Trophy at a blustery Sherwood Forest.
Holmes, pictured by courtesy of Tom Ward Photography, a 45 year old London taxi driver from Kent, fired a closing 73 for 219, nine over par, for a one shot winning margin over Mark Wharton and two clear of Brazilian-born Frenchman Rodrigo Lacerda Soares.
On a brutal day with a tough wind and bouncy fairways, Holmes kept a cool head when many others were losing theirs in the conditions to join an illustrious list of the over-35 champions.
“I just can’t believe this,” said Holmes. “It’s unbelievable for this to happen to me at 45. It’s my first time in the Logan Trophy and this is probably the best course I’ve ever played because you have to play every shot round here. But it was so tough today. It’s probably the worst windy conditions I’ve experienced but I drove the ball well and I never missed a putt inside five feet all week.”
What made Holmes’ success all the more remarkable is that he arrived with a new set of clubs and he was playing with them for the first time in competition.
Starting the day three shots off the lead, Holmes began with a bogey and was two over after four holes. But a run of four successive birdies from the fifth saw him out in 34 and he only dropped five shots over the demanding back nine to post nine under which no one managed to match.
A reinstated amateur after two years as a professional, Holmes recently lost in the semi-finals of the Kent Championship and was a county player for a number of years after only taking up golf aged 21.
“I didn’t play any sport because I didn’t have the time,” he added. “But now I play golf five days a week because I get the time off after working nights driving in London. I don’t practise because we don’t have a practice ground at Langley Park but I spend about two hours working on my putting which paid off this week.”
Wharton, who lost a play-off for the European Mid Amateur title a couple of weeks ago in France, was second again but one blemish put paid to his chances. “I has a triple at the 12th which cost me,” he said after signing for 74.
Lacerda Soares, the French Mid Amateur champion, had the chance to overtake Holmes but he bogeyed the last two holes for 77 to take third spot on 221.
The rest of the field suffered in the wind which made it a pleasant day for spectators but an endurance test for the players. Sherwood Forest was at its brutal best and spared no one especially over the back nine, which is a challenge in calmer times.
Defending champion John Longcake from Cumbria came within a whisker of a fourth title when he got to six over with five to play. But he bogeyed every hole from the 14th and finished with a double in a 75 for 222. “I just don’t do that sort of thing,” he lamented.
Overnight leaders Andrew Wiltshire and Jamie Miller in the last game out, also found it tough, signing for 81 and 82 respectively.
But at the end of the day there were just two winners, the unyielding wind and Danny Holmes, who will regale his fellow London cab drivers for weeks at being crowned national champion.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 210 (3x70)
1st Danny Holmes Langley Park 72 74 73 219
2nd Mark Wharton John O'Gaunt 71 75 74 220 
3rd Rodrigo Lacerda Soares (France) 71 73 77 221
4th Martin Young Brokenhurst Manor Golf Club 75 74 73 222 
4th John Longcake Silloth on Solway 77 70 75 222 
6th Stephen East Moortown  70 74 80 224
6th Andrew Wiltshire Pontefract 71 72 81 224 
8th Paul Telfer Stoneham  72 75 78 225
8th Richard Sadler Moseley 73 73 79 225
8th Roger Roper Leeds 71 73 81 225
8th Jamie Miller Fulford  72 71 82 225 
12th Danny Curtis Knole Park  76 77 73 226 
12th C Gray Pannal  75 76 75 226
12th Nigel L Chesters Hawkstone Park 74 73 79 226
15th James Crampton Spalding 76 73 78 227
15th Stephen Brennan Wheatley  74 74 79 227
17th Bruce Hilsdon Littlestone 72 79 77 228
17th Anthony Wain Sherwood Forest 76 75 77 228
17th Christopher Aukett Crondon Park  76 74 78 228
17th Jonathan Hems Kings Norton 76 73 79 228 
17th Scott Ritchie New Zealand 74 75 79 228
22nd Steve Sansome Birstall 80 73 76 229 
22nd R A Latham Woodhall Spa 78 73 78 229 
22nd C A Banks Stanton-on-the-Wolds74 74 81 229 
22nd Robert Bardsley Denton  73 74 82 229
22nd David Morris Collingtree Park 68 79 82 229 
27th Graham Forrest Northumberland  74 77 79 230
27th Ewen Wilson Porters Park 76 73 81 230 
29th S Needham Sickleholme  79 74 78 231
29th Simon Stephens Moortown 73 79 79 231
29th Andrew Inglis Sunningdale Artisans  71 77 83 231 
32nd Phil Sewell Castle Royle 75 77 80 232
32nd Nicky Bell Carlisle 73 79 80 232
32nd S M Santon Moortown  74 76 82 232
32nd Mark Nolan Hallowes 74 75 83 232 +22
32nd Christopher Audin Tiverton 75 74 83 232
32nd Paul Dolton Frilford Heath  75 72 85 232 
38th Ben Bainbridge Sherwood Forest  76 76 81 233
39th Ian Clarke Sickleholme  76 77 81 234 
39th Kevin Reilly Southport and Ainsdale 73 79 82 234 
41st S Hallam Tadmarton Heath  77 76 82 235 
42nd Mark Sheridan Greystones, Ireland 78 73 85 236 
43rd Gareth Bradley Bramhall 75 78 84 237
43rd Christopher Lowe Tadmarton Heath  78 75 84 237 
43rd David Brown Sherwood Forest  76 75 86 237 
46th Mark Bentley Ganton  77 75 86 238 
47th Robert Treweek Moortown 76 76 87 239
48th Nicholas Jelley Cosby 76 76 91 243