This week the Faldo Elite Tour headed to Luton Hoo for the sixth event of the season held at Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire.
Set in over 1,000 acres steeped in history and elegance, Luton Hoo, is the ultimate country resort with golf playing a part in its history since the turn of the century, with the estate’s original Victorian 9 hole golf course. Housed within the historic stable courtyard, the Country Club provides every facility for a truly memorable experience. The 7,107 yard Championship golf course offers some picturesque tee shots with a harmonious blend of inland links and mature parkland.
A grey and windy day set the tone for a difficult day of scoring. With a premium on accuracy off the tee, good driving was going to be imperative to manoeuvre your way around the many oak trees. Mason Essam started strongly with 3 birdies on his front nine to take the early lead, but a faltering one over par back nine set the clubhouse target at 2 under.
Contrasting rounds to Essam, Spencer Datkiewicz started poorly with two early bogeys but recovered for a one over par front nine. Getting comfortable in the wind, a birdie on the 12th hole got the round back on track. A clinical finish of two birdies in the last three holes brought him home with a 2 under par total to match Essam.
Taking the victory on countback, Datkiewicz said, ‘It has been a good day today at Luton Hoo, I hit the driver pretty well given the windy conditions, that was a real focus of mine at the start of the day. I kept the ball in play nicely avoiding the trees and getting good lines of sight to the greens which is key here. I managed to hole a few putts so all in all a solid round of golf.’
Sprint 2 is now complete, with Harry Uzzell, Jack McPhail and Spencer Datkiewicz taking the top three spots for a Challenge Tour start. With plenty of movement on the Order of Merit, it is all to play for with the season ending finale at Bristol in October.
Many thanks to Craig Ferris, and the whole team at Luton Hoo for their assistance and warm hospitality, the course provided the perfect setting to test the Elite Tour players.
Next up is the Faldo Elite Tour finale week, with events taking place at Bristol & Clifton on the 17th, and then at The Bristol on the 19-20th of October to complete the order of Merit for 2023.
