Englishman Philip Golding admits he cannot wait for the new European Senior Tour season to get underway after offering a tantalising glimpse in 2012 of what he can achieve.
Golding made his debut in The Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex, finishing in a respectable tied 35thposition at Turnberry, before twice coming agonisingly close to claiming a maiden title, first in Scotland and then in Wales.
The 50 year old carded back-to-back 64s at the weekend in the SSE Scottish Senior Open at Fairmont St Andrews as he finished one shot behind Swede Anders Forsbrand, and then opened with another 64 in the Speedy Services Wales Senior Open the following week.
It was the first time a hat-trick of 64s had been achieved on The European, Senior or Challenge Tours, but Golding again had to settle for second place at Conwy (Caernarvonshire) Golf Club after Barry Lane beat him to the title by one stroke.
While he could not replicate those impressive performances in the latter part of the season, eventually finishing in 17thposition on the Order of Merit, Golding showed enough quality in his debut season to suggest that success may not be too far away.
“It was a pretty pleasing first season,” said Golding. “I only played seven events, but I had those two second places in Wales and in Scotland.
“Looking back at Wales, I had a good opportunity there, when I was leading going into the final round, and in Scotland I had two 64s, which were course records.
“So there was some good stuff. I got the putter working those weeks which was the difference. I didn’t play that well towards the end of the season as I had a few issues with my set up, but I can work on that.”
It is ten years since Golding claimed his sole European Tour victory in the 2003 Open de France, and after spending the majority of the winter practising in warmer climes than his homeland, he is raring to start afresh at the US Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid.
“I like to go away as much as I can during the winter and keep busy,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the new season though. If I can get up there a few times, who knows. My goal was always to win an event on the Senior Tour and hopefully I can do that. I can’t wait to get going again.”
