More national title joy for Woodhall Spa veteran golfer Richard Latham
Woodhall Spa golfer Richard Latham won the inaugural English Super Senior Men’s Amateur Championship (over 65s) at Broadstone Golf Club, after beating Jon Tyror 6 & 5 at his home course.
Latham raced into an early lead thanks to birdies on one and three, before coming close to a brilliant eagle to win the ninth.
He went on to beat the Broadstone chairman 6&5 without losing a single hole for his fourth national title, with Tyror even remarking: “He is certainly one of the best players I have ever played against.”
After a long week for the 68-year-old, which included seven rounds of golf, Latham said: “It feels great, I’m over the moon.
“The weather has been hard on golf courses and we’ve played in temperatures averaging around 30 all week, so it has been challenging.
“This is a lovely course but with the slopes and ground being so hard, it’s been tough to play.
"So it’s been about concentration and being patient which is an important word in competitive golf – and I’m not always very good at that!
“If you win anything these days, there are so many good players around, it’s a moment, and I love to win, so if you do it, it makes you feel very good.
"And in relation to everything else, I’ve won four national titles that I’m blessed and fortunate to have achieved.”
After playing and winning the first ever English Super Senior Men’s Amateur Championship, Latham admitted: “The fact that England Golf have given people over the age of 65 the opportunity to compete for longer is fantastic because we’re all not getting any younger, and those of us who still hit lots of balls as I do, are determined to carry on playing and have something to aim for.
“There comes a point in your life where you know you’re not quite good enough any more to play at certain levels so if you can play at the next level, that’s fantastic – and we’ve been given that chance by England Golf.
“I had to think hard about which event I was going to play in (over 55s or over 65s) but clearly now I’m glad I’ve picked this one!
"Playing is a really big thing as one day you’ll wake up and know you can’t do it any more.
"So it’s really important we have the chance to do this.”
Asked about celebrations, he joked: “I’ll have to speak to the lovely Lisa (wife) and I’m sure she’ll be delighted – and I’ll have list of house chores to do when I get home!”
Graham Marshall (Kirby Muxloe) was crowned English Senior Men’s Amateur Championship winner after a dramatic comeback against Stefan Priest (Hallowes).