THE 150TH OPEN

July 15, 2022

Robert Dinwiddie

Mixed Zone

Q. Robert, can you just sort of, without blow by blow, but just summarise that round.

ROBERT DINWIDDIE: Obviously a disappointing score, but I fought hard. I actually played pretty well most of the way around, barring a couple of tee shots. And hit bad tee shots on some of the more gettable holes. Didn't have a lot of joy on the greens.

I played pretty good. I'm disappointed to be finished on the cut line, but at least I've got a chance of making the cut.

Q. Can you just talk us through what -- like last night you finished at ten past 10:00. What happened after? Was it easy to get to sleep afterward?

ROBERT DINWIDDIE: Yes, straight back to the house we rented. Something to eat, and I was in bed about midnight probably. I slept fine, yeah. I was shattered.

Q. It's an incredible journey really you've been on to go through local qualifying, then final qualifying, and then to get here. What would it mean to you to get through to the weekend?

ROBERT DINWIDDIE: It would mean a lot to play the weekend. It really would. It would make all the qualifying and things worth it.

It's been great anyway, but once you're in, you want to play well. I have played pretty well even though my score doesn't really show it today. It would mean a lot. So I've got my fingers crossed that it's enough.

Q. What made you start on a Woodland?

ROBERT DINWIDDIE: I grew up in Barney Castle, so it's not far from home. I love that course. It's a great course. I thought it was also a good excuse to go up north and spend a couple of days with my dad and a few friends.

That was a no brainer decision for me to choose there as my regional site.

Q. I saw Ross McMurray out there. He said you often pop into EGD and you're a student of design. Is that partly why you were there?

ROBERT DINWIDDIE: Somewhat, and an additional reason, I'm trying my best to get into golf course design and architecture. I really enjoy it. And Ross and Jeremy and the guys there have been somewhat mentoring me over the last year or so. That is another keen interest of mine.

Yeah, to go and see the original Mackenzie, it's, yeah, interesting. I took a lot of photos in the practise round.

Q. Whatever happens tonight, would you have sort of thought this was possible when you were labouring during lockdown? Did you ever kind of dream of this kind of stuff?

ROBERT DINWIDDIE: Definitely. I've still tried to keep my game as sharp as I can. Open qualifying was on my -- in my diary from the beginning of the year.

Yeah, I believe I've still got some good golf left in me, and I love it. I love practicing. I love playing, helping my friends out that came out through lockdown and golf coming to a finish for me, particularly with someone with sort of limited status on TOUR.

Yeah, the answer's yes, I did. But it is tough. I haven't been a full-time golfer this year. But I've practised as much as I could around it.

Q. Where do you practise in Wandsworth?

ROBERT DINWIDDIE: I practise at Richmond Golf Club. Lovely course. Spoiled, really, to have that as a home club, just ten minutes away from where I live. Always in good condition. And tough. Not long, but a tough, tough course, a good course to practise on.

Q. What kind of sites were they? Were they actually in Wandsworth town?

ROBERT DINWIDDIE: No, I was basically -- I was working with a company based -- it was all Esher, Aldershot, out to Woking.

It was all that kind of area. Not too much in central London.

Another friend of mine has an interior design company, Thomas Kunz. I worked for him initially. He had a few projects up in town that we did. But with the other guys, it's been more kitchens, bathrooms. They've got another full house build project on the go in Esher. So it's more all that kind of area.