Open qualifying: Phoenix Golf Club's Oli Sullivan taking different route to Hoylake

After playing 24 holes in one day on the latest Clutch Tour stop in Northern Ireland last week, 23-year-old professional Oli Sullivan from Sheffield was ready for a good night’s sleep.
Nick Westby
By Nick Westby
Published 25th Jun 2023, 16:45 GMT
Updated 25th Jun 2023, 17:26 GMT

For the third time this season, he had maneuvered himself into position to strike for the title on the biggest golf circuit in England outside of the European Challenge Tour.

What happened next is not exactly what you sign up for when embarking on the life of a professional golfer.

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“It got to about half 10, I’d just dropped off to sleep when we all woke up to this horrendous noise,” begins Sullivan, who was sharing digs with a fellow Yorkshire professional in George Mason and a player from Ireland.

Clutch performer: Young professional Oli Sullivan in action on the Clutch Tour earlier this season. The 23-year-0old who plays out of Phoenix in Rotherham tees off in Open qualifying at Lindrick on Monday (Picture: Andy Crook)Clutch performer: Young professional Oli Sullivan in action on the Clutch Tour earlier this season. The 23-year-0old who plays out of Phoenix in Rotherham tees off in Open qualifying at Lindrick on Monday (Picture: Andy Crook)
Clutch performer: Young professional Oli Sullivan in action on the Clutch Tour earlier this season. The 23-year-0old who plays out of Phoenix in Rotherham tees off in Open qualifying at Lindrick on Monday (Picture: Andy Crook)

“It was just all these cows mooing - they must have been getting milked or something. It went on for about an hour!

“I suppose that’s what you get when you’re staying in a static caravan on a farm in Ireland, overlooking a field full of cows.

“This golf club we’re playing at is in the middle of nowhere, it’s in the countryside just up from Belfast.”

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