Hayden Gulliver buoyant despite missing cut in NSW Open Golf

The Maitland 22-year old was speaking after his first experience in the NSW Open Golf title at Twin Creeks club near Penrith, where he shot rounds of 76 and 77, for a nine over par total of 153 to miss the cut.

On the surface, it would seem a disappointing weekend, but Gulliver has come away feeling decidedly energised by the whole experience. “I learned so much,” he said.

“And while the scores are disappointing – I  was most definitely hoping to make the cut – there was a lot to like.”

For a start Gulliver is convinced that if he continues to work hard, he will be able to play consistently at this level.

His rounds could easily have been so much better.

In the first round he was one under through 12 holes – “and that included a couple of near misses, so it could have been lower” – but finished up letting it slide.

“I hit a couple of pure shots, then one bad swing and it was a double bogey.

“And then straight after that I hit a wrong club and went over the back of the green and had no shot.

“Double bogey, bogey takes the wind out of your sails.

“I was playing with Brad Moules and from tee to green I was playing as well as him, but he putted really well and took his chances.

“He shot 68 and 66 and was right in the thick of it.”

So what lessons did he learn – and what does he need to work on?

“When the top guys play a bad shot, they are really good at damage limitation,” Gulliver said.

“They seem to be able to leave themselves in a position where they can still scramble a par.

“Also the top players don’t miss too many chances. They seem to make those medium length putts a lot … take their chances.

“There’s a consistency to their play.

“I can play well and then have a bad hole that really hurts my score. They might drop a shot, but don’t do a lot of damage.

“I also played the odd loose drive on the par fives, which makes it hard to set yourself up for a birdie chance. The experienced players all seem to be down the middle giving themselves every chance with their approach shot.” 

He said the atmosphere was good for a youngster coming through.

“I know a lot of the guys from their amateur days and they’d say g’day. I played a practice round with James Nitties and he said to just go out and play, don’t be overawed,” he said.

“No, it was all pretty good.”

But at this stage there’s no chance to put his feet up.

“I’ve got two more tournaments this year – the Tasmanian Amateur at the end of this month and then the Victorian Amateur at the start of December. Then I can put my feet up, have a rest and hopefully look forward to a big year in 2019.”