John Wade didn t think head get a chance to play The Open Championship again but all that changed overnight when he shot 63 in the final round of 36-hole Local Final Qualifying at Dunbar in Scotland. The 45 year-old Victorian s 7-under par total booked his place at Muirfield in two weeks time. His only other appearance at The Open was at St Andrews in 2005. It was an emotional day I went from not really expecting anything to having a pretty strong heartbeat in the last couple of holes, Wade told Golf.org.au A morning round of 70 had Wade joking with his caddy but it wasn t until a back nine run in the afternoon round that things got serious. “Suddenly I strung together some good holes and holed some putts and the conditions were tough in the afternoon which was what I needed and I came home like a steam train really and thought I was a big chance.” “That s probably what I m most proud of, just being able to come home in 29 under that pressure when you re not playing any golf that s the big bonus,” Wade said. Wade is on leave from his role as club professional at Commonwealth Golf Club in Melbourne and is in the UK on holiday with his partner. “My original plan was to play qualifying, probably miss and go on to the rest of the holiday. I think now there s a two week gap, I ll just drive down to where I m going to base myself for the next week and play some golf down here. There are a few good links courses I used to practice at Royal Lytham and my experience from 2005 was that it s a pretty exhausting week so I ll probably just get away and do a bit of practice in my own time,” Wade said. The result highlights a week of golfing success at all levels for the Wade family. John s brother Cameron, who is the Director of Golf Development at Golf Australia, won the competition at Victoria Golf Club last weekend and the brothers father Ian won a competition at Patterson River earlier in the week. Continuing the family s sporting pedigree, Australian wicketkeeper Matthew Wade is a second cousin. Wade said he plans to keep his routine and preparation relatively quiet given his lack of competitive golf in recent months. “I don t think there s much point in ramping it up big time when the body doesn’t know what its doing so I think it s trying to get the right balance. Another event somewhere is not a bad option but I d probably have to drive miles looking at the European pro schedule so I think I ll keep the freshness and go in with a bit of practice locally,” Wade said. Wade believes his lack of any particular expectations in qualifying helped. It’s just the fact that you don t expect too much and that s the way I ve got to look at it still, I ve got to be realistic about my preparation versus a lot of them (other players) but I ll just do what I m doing and see where it takes me, Wade said.
Author: Hamish Jones / Golf Australia