YouTube golf star Peter Finch has sent a warning to The Open Championship after he missed out during regional qualifying at Hesketh Golf Club.
Finch has documented his attempt to reach the year’s final major in his ‘Quest for the Open’ series on YouTube.
Despite playing well in several build-up events, Finch couldn’t replicate his impressive practice round in Southport and finished well off the pace.
With several big names set to feature in final qualifying, the YouTube star has now sent a word of warning to the final major of the year.
The Open must remain attainable for amateur players
Speaking in the latest episode of the Rough Cut Podcast, Finch claimed the beauty of The Open is that it is attainable for low-handicap golfers.
He explained: “For me personally, the whole beauty of the Open Championship is that it is open; if you are a pro or a low handicap, you can enter and throw your hat into a ring. That’s one of the best things about it. The chances of me or any other influencer getting through within golf is very low, it’s exceptionally low.”
Finch went on to suggest that the average club pro will soon be unable to qualify due to the difficulty level of final qualifying.
He added: “The chances are that this year, especially, the amount of people who get through regional qualifying won’t get through finals qualifying either because that’s where you have more ex-tour pros and the guys from LIV coming on.
“There’s a real chance that if we’re not careful with the Open, that within a few years, people getting through to finals qualifying from your average club pro, or people who are decent players who want to give it a go won’t get through because they are going to run into a bulldozer when they get to finals qualifying.”
LIV Golf dynamic has made life extremely tough
The fact that several LIV players need to qualify has made life hard for club professionals such as Finch.
Previously, Sergio Garcia would have been in the field. Now, with high-profile names taking part in final qualifying, amateur players must shoot the round of their life to stand a chance of competing in the final major of the year.
Finch’s attempt and YouTube series documenting his journey were certainly interesting to view.
Clearly, he’s a top-class player, but the pressure ultimately was too much to handle during his qualifying attempt at Hesketh.
Subscribers would like to see Finch have another go when the 2025 edition comes around, and he shouldn’t be too disheartened after missing out this time around.
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