BASINGSTOKE golfer Stuart Archibald won twice on the EuroPro Tour and earned almost £50,000 in his seven seasons on the mini-tour.

But the young dad claimed the biggest win of his amateur career – two years after regaining his amateur status.

But with five holes to play, Archibald’s bid to win the English Mid-Amateur Championship looked in tatters after he lost his footing while hitting his drive on the 14th tee at Liphook Golf Club.

The back spasm left him crumpled in agony as he lay down on the same piece of grass, desperately trying to stretch out his back, so he could carry on.

After a couple of minutes, he managed to get to his feet and walked gingerly with his caddy Phil Goodwin, a Liphook member, up the sharp incline to where his ball came to rest.

Despite “duffing” his wedge to the back of the green, he somehow summoned the strength to make a birdie from some 50 feet to close the gap on the leader to one.

Thirty-eight-year-old Stuart, who has been troubled by a bad back throughout his career, limped home without dropping another shot, while former Hampshire captain Martin Young dropped a shot on the 14th and failed to make the birdie on the par-five last he need to win.

As a result the two former team-mates found themselves playing the first – with Durham’s Michael Henson – after all three had finished on one-over after 54 holes.

But the Logan Trophy was bound for Basingstoke after Archibald, who won the Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands Amateur Championship, two days before his 22nd birthday, made par on the 200-yard par-three first hole, in the sudden-death play-off.

A clearly relieved – and still in pain – Archibald said:

Stuart explained: “I barely made a swing and duffed my wedge through the bowl to the back of the green on the 14th. I told my caddy Phil, I was really struggling to carry on.

“Phil had been reading my putts all-day to save my bending down all the time but I told him I was not interested on 14, I could barely stand there to hit it.

“Somehow, without me really looking at the line, the ball went in from about 45-50 feet. Phil said to me, ‘You are one-over now, can we just play one hole at a time and see if we can get in, and see where we stand.’

“I remember being told when I was younger that if you are really struggling, to hit the shot and walk after it – Gary Player-style – and it worked.

“I hit some good shots coming in and when we got to 17 and saw the scoreboard, I still had a chance. I missed my birdie on the 18th, but five was enough for a play-off.”

Stuart said: “I love playing at Liphook and everyone in Hampshire knows the superfast greens are the jewel in the county’s crown – but they scare many players.

“Luckily the one thing I know about playing Liphook, is you have to just it put it on the green on the first – it’s always a tricky two-putt even if you find the green.

“But if you miss it, it’s an impossible up-and-down. I was the only one to hit the green and I managed to have one of the easier long putts and got it close enough. I didn’t fancy another hole.

“I can celebrate now with my partner Ashley and our daughter Sofia, who was born six months ago.

“I play golf now to have fun – there’s no pressure trying to earn a living, and spending time with my family means far more,” said the new champion, who had a 5am alarm call to drive up to the Scottish Open on Monday morning.

He now works for Foresight Golf providing launch monitor services on the range to some of the best players in the world at DP World Tour events.

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