WAITER James Duckett served himself a long-held ambition when he made a gallant attempt to qualify for the Open.

The 22-year-old amateur waved the Fulford GC banner when he reached the final qualifying tournament for the 132nd Open currently coming to a climax this weekend at the Royal St George's course in Sandwich.

Duckett's mission took him to the nearby Royal Cinque Ports course for his first ever tilt at the peculiar vagaries of links golf.

While he did not negotiate the tough challenge of the final qualifying stage - he had rounds of 88 and 78 to finish down the order - the redoubtable Duckett was thrilled by the entire experience.

Even a crack of dawn start from his temporary Canterbury 'digs' some 25-miles away did not dampen his enthusiasm for the adventure which he had targeted as one of his 'goals' for the season.

Declared the have-clubs-will-battle player: "It was a great experience, the whole couple of days were excellent.

"When I started this season one of my goals was to get to the final qualifying stages for the Open, so I have at least accomplished that.

"I found myself up against quality players like upcoming American Ben Crane, Aaron Baddeley from Australia, Scotland's Gordon Sherry and ex-Walker Cup player Mark Warren. To play alongside people like that was amazing and I am sure it will help to benefit my own game."

To reach the final qualifying stage Duckett negotiated a regional qualifying round at the Alwoodley course in Leeds. He shot a level-par 71 and within a week was down in the heart of Kent trying to secure accommodation for his two-round mission at the Royal Cinque Ports course, where fellow North Yorkshire players Nick Ludwell, the Selby GC professional, and Gary Brown (Ganton) were also striving to make the Open.

The closest base Duckett could locate was in Canterbury, just on an hour's drive away. So for his first round tee-off time at 7am he had to be up at 4.45am to complete the journey and get in some practice.

Duckett had never played on a links course before. That, plus his early start, left him struggling with an 88 for the opening round. But he retrieved that with a commendable 78 the following day.

Said the man who joined Fulford three months ago after starting the game six years ago at the Boothferry Park course: "It was my first time on a links course and it was so difficult. Keeping the ball on the fairways and the greens was tough, even more so because there had been no rain and the conditions were bone-hard.

"You would hit what you thought was a perfect shot, but then it would get a hell of a kick and finish not where you expected the ball to be."

But Duckett would not have missed his flirtation with the big time for anything, confident the experience would serve him well. Next on the agenda for the York Union of Golf Clubs' regular is the English Amateur Championship at the end of this month.

That's being held at none other than Alwoodley and it would be the perfect tonic for the barman if he could again thrive on the Leeds-based course which set him off on his Open 2003 adventure.

KILNWICK Percy GC's joint captains' day was won by former professional rugby player Steve Cooper with a nett 65.

And it was almost as impressive a triumph for men's captain Steve Johnson. Having teed off first and then spending the morning hosting the half-way house, he played the back nine with the final competitors to achieve a nett 68 - his best in competition for weeks.

The ladies' event's Anne Beharrell Cup was won by Carol Kilford, who hit a nett 65 ahead of Iona Buckle (71), who was second on count-back from Jenny Brook.

Meanwhile, Jamie Denham notched a hole-in-one at the 186-yard par three third hole.

THE new Allerthorpe Park GC champion is Iain Charlton.

He took the coveted prize with rounds of 71 and 67 to total 138, two ahead of Ian Mounser.

Robin Matthews (58 65) won the lowest nett prize and added a double when he won the July medal with a 58, four ahead of the field.

Teresa Wagstaff, meanwhile, won the ladies' section Phosyn Trophy with 41 stableford points, two better than July medal winner Marcina Birkett.

Allerthorpe's new seniors champions is Thomas Agar with a nett 60. The best gross prize was shared by Frank Rogers and Harry Mizen, both on 76.

SCRATCH player Martin Brown fired off a birdie blitz to retain the Pike Hills GC championship.

Over a sun-drenched course Brown turned up the heat on his rivals with no less than five birdies in his closing round of 69 after his opening 71.

It was just as well that Brown launched his barrage as he was one shot behind the leader and playing partner Adrian Lount when they reached the final and decisive tee on the 18th.

Brown parred the last hole while Lount (69 73) was stymied off the tee to bow to the reigning champion.

Updated: 11:08 Saturday, July 19, 2003