PETER SENIOR is excited to be heading to the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews in July after a nail biting finish at the International Final Qualifying event at Kingston Heath Golf Club.
It will be Senior’s 18th British Open appearance and his fifth at the home of golf.
He will be joined by fellow qualifiers Kurt Barnes and Ewan Porter.
Barnes tore up the Kingston Heath layout with a second round eight under par 64 to finish on ten under overall, two shots ahead of overnight leader Ewan Porter (68) with Senior (70) taking third place on five under par.
It was a nervous wait for 50 year old Senior, who was aiming for his first Open appearance since 2000 when he finished 72nd at St Andrews.
At six under with just a hole to play Senior bogeyed the 18th moving back to five under and narrowing the gap between himself and his nearest competitor New South Welshman Aaron Townsend.
He then sat in the clubhouse watching and waiting for scores to come in before breathing a sigh of relief as he secured the third and final spot while Townsend and Victorian Steve Jones finished two shots back on three under.
“It feels fantastic. I thought I had blown it coming down the last couple of holes but the score hung on and I am really excited about going there,” said Senior.
Senior previously played St Andrews’ Opens in 2000, 1995, 1990 and 1984 with his best result 14th place on debut. His best finish at The Open was in 1993 at Royal St Georges when he finished fourth.
“St Andrews is such a special place, the atmosphere is just fantastic and I am really going to enjoy this one.”
In contrast to Senior, the 2010 Open Championship will be Kurt Barnes’ first appearance at a Major. The affable big-hitting New South Welshman set the course alight firing a superb 8 under 64 final round to take honours on the final day after starting in fourth place and two shots off the pace.
Two rounds of 68 saw Sydney’s Ewan Porter do what no other player at Australasian Qualifying has ever done – qualify three times from three attempts. He qualified at both attempts at The Lakes in 2007 and 2008
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