Rob Dinwiddie and Nick McCarthy will fly the flag for our region at The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale having progressed through Final Qualifying.
Barnard Castle’s Dinwiddie will make his second appearance in The Open having shot rounds of 69 and 70 to finish in second place at Royal Cinque Ports.
Moortown’s McCarthy made it third time lucky at Hillside with rounds of 66 and 71.
Dinwiddie said: “For what has been a very disappointing year so far, what a way to turn it around. It is fantastic to be back in The Open. It’s only my second time after missing the cut at St Andrews in 2015 but it is always great to be in a major.”
“It’s been a dream since I was a kid to play in The Open,” said McCarthy. “I like playing at Hillside as it’s a really good test. I only dropped one shot all day when I lost a ball on the 17th in the second round. I’m very excited to be playing in The Open – I can’t wait.”
Also among the qualifiers was Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter, who progressed at Woburn. A total of 15 players progressed through Final Qualifying and will tee it up at Royal Birkdale this month.
None of the players who progressed though Regional Qualifying at Northumberland and Alwoodley made it to Birkdale as Wynyard’s James Harper (T55 – Gailes), Close House’s James Simpson (T27 – Hillside) and Carlisle Golf Centre’s Craig Goodfellow (T26 – Gailes) all missed out.
