Extra hours over winter worthwhile for Bristow

Golf

Josh Bristow warmed up for the new season in style, finishing fifth in the 72 hole Portuguese Amateur Championship. Canterbury club champion Bristow shot 67 70 67 70 at the par 72 Montado Golf Resort near Lisbon, to finish five shots behind the winner, fellow Englishman Harry Goddard of Hanbury Manor GC, Herts, who won by one, from a starting entry of 120 players.

Bristow (pictured right) was the second placed of 26 British players who made the cut for the final day’s field of 43 but he was cursing his putting and his failure to exploit the four par fives during the first two rounds which damaged his chance of a famous win

Bristow said: “I played in it last year and missed the cut with a total score of +6 after the three rounds, so this

Frankie Morgan - one of two players shown a yellow card at Barnes year I had the intial target of just making the cut.

“I’ve been putting in extra work over this winter with gym work, seeking sports psychology advice at Christ Church University, which has been very helpful and working on my swing mechanics.

“So going into my first tournament of the year I was feeling as ready as I could be. I didn’t do an awful lot wrong but I didn’t birdie any of the par fives in the first two rounds, which was eight wasted chances and my putting was average, to say the least. “The first round I got off to a steady start with a two under par 70, with three birdies and one bogey and then followed up with a five under par 67, which meant I was -7 after two rounds and sitting four shots better than the projected cut.

“Going into the third round I got off to a really shaky start because I felt nervous as it was cut day. I bogeyed the second, bounced back with a birdie at the third then bogeyed the fourth.

“After that I settled into the round playing very solid and managed to grind out yet another two under 70, which put me at -9, five shots behind the leaders – and importantly I achieved my initial goal.

“The last round I was very relaxed as I knew I was playing well and had no worries. So I went out and enjoyed myself, which resulted in a solid bogey free final round finishing birdie, par, birdie to finish off with another 67 to give me a total score of -14, which left me in fifth place on my own and the second best English player.’’ Celebrations back at home had to be put on hold when Bristow was left stranded in Portugal by Storm Dennis until he could fly home on Wednesday morning.

He added: “Easyjet were really good though, they put us all up in hotels and also paid for our breakfast and dinner until we could fly back.’’