This week saw the 3rd event of stage 1 of Q School for the DP World Tour played at Huddersfield Golf Club in Yorkshire. Q School is an opportunity where hundreds of professional golfers & elite amateurs battle it out over 3 separate events to gain their playing rights & ranking on the Challenge & DP World Tours.
This week Eagle Ambassador, Ryan Harmer was teeing it up in the fine Yorkshire countryside following his withdrawal last week due to illness. Being bed bound for 3 days with zero appetite is hardly the ideal prep but Ryan got up to Huddersfield a few days early to prepare. He had a good couple of days walking the course, playing some holes on top of a few range sessions throughout his game. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to get out on the back nine to play a full 9 holes due to fog but nether the less felt ready ahead of his first tee time on Tuesday.
Ryan admittedly didn’t get off to the ideal start where following a couple of early bogeys in the wind he got caught up in the deep rough on the par 5 14th where it was so thick he took 3 attempts to get back in play and walked off with a Triple Bogey. At the end of his first 9 holes of Q School, Ryan found himself +7 over par. At this point you could go one of two ways; One being let the weeks of build up & prep flutter away and the opportunity pass you by, or you could put the last two hours being you, roll your sleeves up and stick to the process.
Hats off to Ryan, he chose the latter & he stayed focused on the job in hand. Played one shot at a time, stayed in the present moment and fought his way back into the contest. He mad a faultless -3 on his back 9 including an Eagle 3 on the Par 5, 3rd Hole bringing his score back to +4.
In rounds 2 & 3 Ryan continued his solid play he had built on his 2nd 9 on day one shooting 1 Under & Level Par respectively. The windy, unpredictable weather on the Yorkshire hills were making ball striking crucial & Ryan was feeling happy with him control keeping him within 3/4 shots of the qualifying spots. He knew he would have to shoot minimum -3/-4 on the final day to stand a chance of progressing.
Ryan went onto shoot an impressive -3 in the final round which included 5 birdies and 2 bogeys. He set up a few good chances coming home & hit some agonisingly close putts but thy didn’t quiet drop on this occasion. He ended up missed out progressing to Stage 2 by just 2 strokes but took away lots of positives from the week.
“Regardless of the outcome, I feel like I’ve made huge progress this week, knowing that I can execute high quality golf shots under the most pressure. I now want to finish the season strong on Clutch where I’m at Harleyford next.” – Ryan Harmer
To read Ryan’s in depth analysis on the event be sure to take a read of his blog here and keep up to speed on his social media below.
Instagram – @RyanHarmer1
