Wheeler must wait to emulate Rose
ROBERT WHEELER’S dream of winning the Hampshire Hog like Justin Rose on his home course will have to wait at least one more year as he had to settle for 11th place,
The Aldershot golfer went into the 66th running of the famous 36-hole open – won by Rose when he was just 14 back in 1995 – after some very low scoring in Portugal as he finished his third year at the Tournament Golf College, at St Mellion with their annual stay in the Algarve.
Having finished 12th in the Selborne Salver at Blackmoor 24 hours earlier, Wheeler was hoping to cash in at his home club, with the Hog missing all of the main England squad again.
But in windy conditions – with very fast greens – he found himself seven shots behind halfway leader – eventual winner Connor Bell after a three-man play-off which needed four holes.
Wheeler had completed five or six practice rounds at the Fleet club since returning to Hampshire from Portugal at the end of last month.
But Robert, who also caddies regularly at Walton Heath and Queenwood to earn money to support playing at the top amateur level, was caught out by the fast changing conditions in the days before the event.
He said: “I was very confident I knew the likely pin positions and therefore where the right spots were to miss after my practice rounds.
“But after the women played the Hampshire Rose last Sunday, the greenkeeping team were finally able to get stuck into their final preparations, and it was clear the greens were going to be in great condition considering all the rain we have had this winter.
“But having played at Blackmoor on Saturday, which was also in incredible condition considering the winter weather, I turned up on Sunday morning to find the greens running at around 11.6 or 11.7 on the stimp meter.
“That’s much, much quicker than normal for this time of the year – and the wind was up in the morning, so judging the pace of my chipping was much harder than in all the practice rounds.”
Wheeler opened with a 71 that included two birdies and three bogeys. But having got to the turn in level-par and still four shots behind Bell, Wheeler could not produce the fireworks he needed – despite a great birdie two at the tenth from ten-feet above the hole.
Shots went at the 11th, 13th and 16th, with just one more birdie at the 14th from six feet, to end the round with a second level-par 71.