Denis is convinced Open record won’t be beaten
HEARD the one about the merchant seaman, who took up golf as a hobby, yet has held a Major golf record for the past 34 years?
Denis Durnian is the man in question. 1983 saw Tom Watson secure his fifth Open title to equal the tallies of Australia’s Peter Thomson (twice a winner at Royal Birkdale), James Braid and JH Taylor, just one short of the all-time record-holder Harry Vardon.
But it also witnessed Durnian, the club pro at Manchester’s Northenden Golf Club, set a new record low for nine holes on Day Two of the Championship.
The then 33-year-old Durnian covered his opening nine holes on the Friday in a quite stunning 28 shots. But what is all the more impressive is that he missed a 10-foot putt to go out in just 27.
Never scared of going low, Denis had, in fact, set the course record at Northenden earlier that year when he posted a 64.
But just what did spur him on that day at Birkdale to write himself into the history books of the game, with a record he reckons will never be beaten and may not even be equalled?
The self-deprecating Durnian admits he has no idea.
“When it is your day . . . it is just your day,” Denis admitted.
“I have said many times, the 28 itself was the easiest round I ever played in my life.
“The funny thing is I can remember every single shot on that front nine.
“However, for the life of me, I cannot recall anything about the second nine that day.
“I actually had three lip-outs on the front nine, so it really could have been lower.
“I knew exactly how things stood when I stood on that ninth green, as I had been playing with Bill Longmuir at Royal Lytham, in 1979, when he set the previous best of 29 for a nine.
“I had it in my head that I had two putts to set the new low of 28, when perhaps I could have set the mark at 27.”
Durnian’s record has never looked like being beaten in the 34 years since it was set. He reckons that will continue this week.
“It is very difficult to see anyone ever bettering 28. The game has changed and courses, and the challenges they throw up, have got much tougher,” he said.
“I think someone may be able to equal my score one day. But I really don’t believe it will be beaten in my lifetime.”
Denis’s path to Open history took a strange journey.
“As a youngster, I joined the Merchant Navy as a navigational cadet and travelled the world with Canadian Pacific.
“I only took up golf to give me something to do in the three months I’d be at home when not at sea.
“Back in 1969, I was playing at Bolton Municipal, off an 18 handicap. During a lesson with the local pro, he said to me Keith Holland, the pro at Bolton Old Links, was looking for an assistant and that I should apply as he thought I had some real potential.
“I applied and got the job. So I turned pro as an 18-handicapper, and went from very good money in the Merchant Navy, to earning £2.10s as an assistant pro and the rest, as they say, is history.”
Now aged 67, and living in Chorley, Denis is currently going through the process of being reinstated to the amateur ranks.
With a 10-year-old daughter, this Major record holder is thoroughly enjoying his life as a house-husband.