Hamer continues Euro bid

Martyn Hamer — European tour hope

LOCAL golfer Martyn Hamer today continues his bid to win a place on the European Tour.

The 23-year-old from Chadderton Fold tees off in the second qualifying stage in Spain which is held over 72 holes.

If Hamer, who is assistant professional at Ellesmere, finishes in the top 18 at Arcos Gardens, Jerez, from a field of 90 he will progress to the third and final qualifier played over six rounds.

After winning through the initial qualifier at The Oxfordshire in September for the second successive year, Hamer returns to Arcos Gardens where 12 months ago he fell at the second hurdle.

He hopes to have benefited from the experience from last year, though it remains a massive challenge.

Father Steve, who competed in the Open as an amateur, explained: “There are seven former winners of European Tour events in the field at Arcos Gardens.

“Though these guys have won tournaments, they are only exempted from qualifying school for two years so Martyn is going to have to get the better of players of that calibre.”

Steve is confident that Martyn can achieve his dream of gaining a card for the European Tour.

He added: “Martyn won a pro-am in Portugal last week and is going into the event in good form. He is 91 under-par for his last 38 rounds of golf”

Steve added it is important to get through to the final qualifying stage as that opens doors.
“Simply by winning through at Arcos Gardens, Martyn would be guaranteed a full playing card for the Challenge Tour in 2009.

“Martyn only played two or three Challenge Tour events this year, but needs to be playing regularly at that level.”

Martyn has won £6,500 in prize money in the last two months which is a big help because it is costly trying to gain his Tour card.

He is already looking ahead and plans to spend the winter either in South Africa or Asia working on his game and competing.

That will be made possible by the continued financial support from sponsor Dave Fricker, through his company Touchstar (formerly Telecom Applications), his father and members at Ellesmere who have raised £3,500 for him.