The gallery on the 18th (Goolagong Dip) Full Scorecard To view the full scorecard click here to download the Excel spreadsheet. Photos There are 41 photos from the British Open 2001 posted on Discgolfphotos.com To view them click here.

Pictured - Last year's British Open Champion Marco LeHousse (Belgium)

Tournament Review by Richard Sampson
The 23rd British Open was blessed with beautiful sunshine and a large international field of players. Countries taking part included Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, USA, Germany, France, Ireland, England, Scotland, Australia and Denmark.

The Open is the biggest tournament on the UK disc golf calendar. It is also one of the 7 tournaments on the Eurotour South. (click on the 'Events Diary' button for more info)

Whitcombe is a fantastic disc golf location, proudly boasting two independent 18 hole courses set in 45 acres of rolling hills and beautiful English countryside. Some of the holes can only be desribed as 'awesome'.

69 players took part across 5 divisions (Open, Amateur, Womens, Masters and Junior).

Open Division
The Open division was a very tight contest with Charlie Mead(Eng), Sweden's Thomas Halberg and Andy Lucey(Eng) setting the early pace. Andy Lucey knew from the start that he could only play the first day as he had a Christening to attend on Sunday. However, Andy had negotiated a deal with his wife that meant if he was leading the tournament at the end of the first day he would be permitted to miss the Christening! Despite this motivation Andy couldn't maintain his challenge and he left early Sunday morning for some serious head wetting.

In the meantime the rest of the field battled on. At the end of the first day 7 shots separated the top 7 players. Top of the pile was Englands' Charlie Mead, leading by one shot from Sam Neilsen (Eng) and Denmark's Martin Frederiksen. Mead has been at the forefront of disc sports in the UK and Europe for almost 20 years. He won the European Disc Golf Championships as far back as 1982.

The final round before the cut for the semis saw a dramatic change in the field. Sam Neilsen continued to fire on all cylinders whilst a few others cooled off. Neilsen emerged as the clear leader, four shots ahead of Mead and Derek Robins (Eng). Quietly creeping up into 5th place was the popular Danish players 'Big' Willy Jakobsen.

The cut for the semis involved the top 12 players in the Open Division and the top 12 from the other divisions, played over 9 holes. In the Open Division, no one was able to make an impression on Neilsen's lead. Tomas Halberg was the pick of the players over the nine and Big Willy J's challenge came to an end.

The final of the Open Division was all about Neilsen holding it together. It was going to take a tremendous effort from one of the four chasers to overhall his four shot lead. After a few holes it was apparent that only an absolute nightmare from Neilsen was going to lose it. The real battle was for second. This involved Derek Robins, Charlie Mead and Martin Frederiksen. Robins and Mead have perhaps the longest personal rivalry in British Disc Golf, more often than not it is Robins who takes the glory. However on this occasion it was Mead's day as he snatched 2nd place with Robins and Frederiksen sharing 3rd place. Tomas Halberg finished in 5th. Sam Neilsen crowned his win in style on the last hole of the final, the infamous Goolagong Dip. The gallery had gathered at the bottom of the hill, next to the green and the pond. Neilsen played a perfect drive landing his driver at the foot of the basket, to great whoops and applause from his fans.

Open Champion - Sam Neilsen acknowledges the gallery

Amateur Division
After two rounds the Amateur Division appeared to be a one horse race. Steve Jones (USA) had a 6 shot lead over his nearest rival, however a disasterous third round (72) plunged him into joint second with S.H.I.T.E's Steve Parker(Eng). Heading the field was Scotland's Ben Foxall. Still in the picture at this stage were Dan Massey (Eng), Micki Frohlich(Ger), Robin Ailes (Eng) and Rob Capper (Eng).

After the semi finals the struggle for top dog was clearly between Jones and Foxall. These two players had enjoyed a ding dong at their last tournament at Quarry Park, with Foxall ousting the more experienced Jones on that occasion. This time Foxall held two shots over Jones with just the six hole final to play. Steve Jones had a score to settle and he blasted through the final shooting 19 to Foxall's 23. The popular American was very gracious in accepting his trophy, praising Foxall's contribution to a great personal battle between the two players and also to the other players in a tremendous Amatuer competition. Steve Parker took 3rd place from fellow club player Dan Massey and Simon Ailes, with Micki Frohlich finishing in 6th.

The Womens Division was won well by Sue Underwood (Eng). S.H.I.T.E's Ali Locke (Eng) played very well to take 2nd and France's Florence Peraudeau took 3rd. Furthest travelled was Fiona Lowenthal who had journeyed from Tasmania to be at the British Open.

The Junior Division was won by Patrick Green.

Congratulations to everyone who helped make another great British Open and to all those who helped prepare the course and make Whitcombe the special place that it is.