Golf – Early exit for Houston

Jan 16 2009 by Paul Wheelock, Flintshire Chronicle

GARRY Houston’s second European Tour invite of the season proved not to be as successful as his first as he suffered an early exit from the Joburg Open.

The 37-year-old from Flint Mountain headed to the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club in confident mood having earned 10,650 euros with a tie of 21st at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in Mpumalanga before Christmas.

But South Africa was not as kind to him on Friday as his second-round 73, following his first-round 71, meant he missed the cut.

Houston lost his European Tour card last season after finishing 120th in the Order of Merit, which, agonisingly, was just 4,500 euros short of the required target.

The former Welsh Amateur champion then missed the chance to regain his card in November at the final stage of the Tour School in Spain.

That means Houston, who made more than a million euros in four straight seasons on the Tour, must try to win back the right to regularly play against stars like Padraig Harrington through a top-20 finish on the Challenge Tour.

That only begins in March, though, so Houston will be relying on invites to main Tour events to keep his competitive edge.

His next one is likely to be in Kuala Lumpur at next month’s Malaysian Open.

Peter Jones and Geraint Jones (38) were the clear winners of Holywell Golf Club’s 4BBB Stableford on Saturday.

Dave Bell and Keith Wynne (33) were runners-up on a countback from Denys Davies and Bill Williams (33) and Kevin Hayes and Terry Commins (33).