KLM Open – the fully Monty
A scintillating opening round of 63 (7-under par) for “Our Joost” at the Kennemer Golf & Country Club on a gloriously sunny day was overshadowed by a frustrating day two on the links course at Zandvoort. Holland’s biggest hope of lifting the 96th International Dutch Open Championship simply had to hang on in there. And he did.
As Ambassador for the KLM Open, it is not surprising that Joost Luiten had the honour of playing with American golf legend Tom Watson during the first two days, along with 2007 Champion, Ross Fisher. At the end of the second round, Watson paid compliment to Holland’s number one golfer and praised the way he had played. While expressing one of his friendly, knowing smiles, he said: “Joost is a grinder”. Indeed, 29-year old Joost Luiten, the Dutch Open Champion at the Kennemer in 2013, “ground his way” round 18 holes on Friday to card a 71, limiting the damage to just 1-over par. His off-day saw him tumble from 4th to a share of 20th and so stray six shots off the pace set by the Dane Soren Kjeldsen.
Kennemer yields a feast of low scores
Heavy rain in August had seen the links course at Zandvoort turn distinctly green for the time of year. Hand in hand with two gloriously sunny opening days, it was no wonder that many players were shooting low scores. Paul Lawrie from Scotland, who soared to fame when he won the 1999 Open Championship at Carnoustie, started the low-sixties trend when he opened with a blistering 9-under par, 61 on Thursday. At the very end of the day, rather surprisingly, he had to share his lead with Wade Ormsby. The Australian’s birdie blitz earned him an impressive 61 and top spot alongside Lawrie.
The Kennemer course was a very gracious host to the European Tour players who took advantage of the perfect weather and soft conditions. You would have been forgiven for thinking that the par here was 66 as low scores flooded in all day again on Friday.
Birdie blitz for Fitzpatrick
Things got buzzing even more when 21-year old Matthew Fitzpatrick looked to be heading for a magical round of 59. The Englishman went out in just 28 strokes. He had already recorded 10 birdies in his round before standing over a putt for birdie on the last hole for a record-breaking 59. The putt pulled up a few centimetres short leaving him with just a ‘blow-in’ for a round of 60. As he admits himself, he was too busy with the line of the putt that he forgot about the pace.
Alas, for the players, none of these exquisite scores count for the official course record as ‘preferred lies’ were in place due to the unprecedented recent rainfall which had caused “worm-casting” on some fairways.
Dane’s love of links golf
Early Friday afternoon Soren Kjeldsen, playing with Fitzpatrick, set the clubhouse lead at 12-under par. Back-to-back 64’s for the Dane who simply loves courses like the Kennemer. He spoke enthusiastically about the Dutch links: “You have to shape shots here and every tee you stand on it looks so inviting. It’s nice to have that feeling, where every hole you can’t wait to play it”.
Only half an hour earlier, Joost Luiten had teed-off with Tom Watson and Ross Fisher for round two. A bogey start was to paint the picture of the frustrating round to come. Gone was the ease and flow that the 2013 Dutch Open Champion had experienced the day before. He had to be satisfied with a 71 leaving him at 6-under for the tournament.
The same frustration was to remain with him all weekend. Despite good solid rounds of 68 and 67, the golfer from Bleiswijk could not find the sparkle to make any progress up the leaderboard. Holland’s only player on the European Tour finished in a disappointing share of 23rd place. Yet Joost can cherish a memorable experience of having played in the Dutch Open with one of golf’s legends, the 66-year young American gentleman, Mr Tom Watson. No other Dutch player has ever had that honour. “Proost Joost!”
Wendy Hoad
Pictured: Tom Watson and Joost Luiten were hot favourites for press interviews after their rounds. Photography by Golfing Inspirations.