Davy Gilchrist, playing in his first pro tournament in the 50+ division, could not have picked a bigger event to make his debut. The British Sr. Open is a major tournament on the Sr. Circuit and is being contested over one of the most difficult links courses in the world; Carnoustie.
Gilchrist was off to a good start with a par at the 1st and a respectable bogey at the long par four second, after finding a pot bunker off the tee. The best drive of the day for Gilchrist was at the Par 5 sixth where he took his tee shot between the fairway bunkers and the O.B. fence. This area is known as Hogan's Alley. In the 1953 Open Championship Hogan drove between the bunkers and the O.B. all four rounds.
A dropped shot at the seventh and the ninth resulted in an outward nine of 39. A great par save at the tenth would make for a good start on the inward half. Unfortunately the 15th hole would be the site of Gilchrist's unravelling. A triple bogey 7 was a crushing blow and left Gilchrist with only the final difficult finishing three holes to recover.
A wonderful par at the Par 3 16th rejuvenated the Kingsbarns Caddie Master and sent him to the 17th with a bounce in his step. Gilchrist would bogey the final two holes for a 9 over par 80. After the leaving the scoring tent you would have thought Gilchrist had scored level par or better, as the smile that was on his face all day remained. I don't think you could have wiped that smile off with a wire brush.
I had the pleasure of following Davy on Thursday and was proud of his play, which certainly did not reflect his score. An early birdie or two may have resulted in a much better outcome. Considering the lack of golf Davy plays it is quite an accomplishment just to qualify for the event. I believe that day two will see a return to form for the amateur from Glenrothes.
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