One of the great fascinations of golf is its unpredictability. No one really knows when that next ‘great’ round will take place.
Adam Cromwell’s record-breaking effort of 62 on July 27th arrived not completely out of the blue but without much fanfare. The 23-year-old, who had a previous low score of 65 made a late decision to enter the Wednesday Open, putting his name down just 40 minutes before teeing off.
“I’d been playing alright, carded a couple of 67s and 68s, nothing really of note but I did think that I was capable of shooting a really low one,” said Adam.
He made a steady start to his round with birdies at the second and seventh, lipped out for an eagle at the eighth and parred the ninth to reach the turn in a bogey-free three under par.
There was nothing particularly unusual about that front nine for the then +2 handicapper but things changed around the turn as he played the next four holes in five under par!
He birdied the 10th, rolled in an 18-footer on 11 to reach five under and then eagled the par-five 12th to jump to seven under for his round.
It wasn’t until he rolled in a 30-footer for another birdie on the 13th that it suddenly dawned on him that he was on track to better Jonathan McMillan’s long standing record.
“I was trying to keep everything as relaxed as possible after that putt went in,” said Adam who was playing with Shea Brady, Tom Fox and Andrew Fox.
“I parred the 14th, and then missed a good chance for another birdie on the 15th from six feet.
“At 16 I got a bit lucky. I pulled my drive down towards the seventh tee but had a gap and hit a nine iron onto the green and two-putted. I was happy to take that four.”
He found the 17th green in regulation and rolled in another long putt to reach nine under with just the testing closing hole to play.
His final drive of the day found the trees at the bottom of the hill and all he could do was hack it back into play. From there he fired a wedge to the front of the green and saw his putt for par just finish short for a tap-in bogey – his only blemish of the day.
He added; “It was relief at the end to be honest. I was under a fair bit of pressure over those closing holes from 14 to the end. It wasn’t really the way I imagined myself breaking a record, it was always holing a long putt or something but it felt great to know I’d broken the record.”
It was a score that heralded a golden six weeks for Adam who also won the Scratch Cup, finishing the summer with a handicap of +3.
