Arnold is King of the Seniors Again
Doug Arnold is England’s leading senior once again.
The 56-year-old from Sussex maintained his grip on the English
Men's Seniors' Championship on a miserable, rain affected
day at Frilford Heath.
A closing round of 72, easily the best of the day, saw the
building worker from the Copthorne club finish on 218, level
par, four strokes clear of his playing partner David Lane,
who shot 77.
Arnold's success means he becomes only the second player
to successfully defend the title, the previous being Roy Smethurst
from Crewe, who finished third this time on 226 after a 75.
Arnold began the day a stroke behind Lane as the pair teed
off in the final match. But they were level when Lane bogeyed
the short fourth, then the par five sixth proved the pivotal
hole with a two-shot swing as Lane bogeyed again and Arnold
holed for a birdie-four.
It was a lead the Sussex man was never to relinquish despite
taking two penalty shots. The first came when he drove into
a bush on the seventh, a slip that reduced his lead to one.
However, Lane, who never found his form on the greens, bogeyed
the eighth and ninth to turn in 40, while Arnold fired a three-iron
to two feet at the 189-yard ninth for an outward 35.
That saw him four strokes clear and although Lane picked
up his first shot at the long tenth, he was still three behind
with two to play. It was at the 388-yard 17th that Arnold
landed the killer blow, firing a six iron a few feet behind
the pin. Lane needed a similar response but he misjudged his
approach and left it in a front bunker.
It led to a bogey five and the contest was all over bar the
shouting. Although Arnold took his second penalty shot when
his drive was plugged in the rough on the last, by then he
had the title in his pocket for another year.
"When I arrived here this week I just wanted to compete.
I didn't want to make a fool of myself," he said. "It
was great to play with David. He is a great guy and I also
had a lot of support from my fellow club members."
Prior to his victory in 2002, Arnold had left his wife with
a flooded kitchen after a hose broke on their dishwasher.
There were no such problems this time but he did reveal he
had overcome another minor hiccup.
"I broke my driver during a practice round and borrowed
another from Derek Craik Jnr, the club professional. It worked
a treat and now I'm going to see if I can do a deal."
Lane, who was seeking his third victory in the event, was
magnanimous in victory. "Doug deserved to win. He chipped
and putted superbly. When he hit a bad shot he recovered well
and the course proved that the best player won.”
"I just couldn’t handle the greens. I couldn’t
read them and consequently putted poorly."
The winner of the A Group (ages 55-59) was Donald Longmuir
(Verulam); Group B (60-64) Roy Smethurst (Crewe); Group C
(65-69) Graham Steel (Moor Park); and Group D (70 and over)
Morris Little (Cotswold Hills)
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