Champion Frontal is back with sights on county call

Adam Frontal dropped out of competitive amateur golf eight years ago to raise a family, but due to his day job as the proprietor of Cookridge Hall Golf Club in Leeds, he was never far away from the fairways.

The 37-year-old picked up the clubs again seriously at the turn of the year, and entered the prestigious event at Fulford alongside 184 of the county's finest golfers, hoping he could still compete at that level.

But only when he closed out Saturday's final with Tankersley Park's exciting young prospect Nathan Rogers at the 34th hole, did he know he could.

"Surprised would be the over-riding emotion," said Frontal, following his 3 & 2 victory over Rogers. "It's a big achievement for me.

"A couple of weeks ago. I thought I'd have a go at the amateur and see where I stood.

"And if I could compete, I'd have been delighted. I didn't play great to qualify from the strokeplay to the matchplay, I just got through on the mark."

From there, though, his week took off, with two victories in the first matchplay rounds on Thursday, and then a quarter-final triumph over Yorkshire county player Martin Brown (Pike Hills) on Friday morning.

"I thought I was going out at that stage," said Frontal, who hopes to earn a place back in the county team he was a regular for in his 20s.

"My mentality in the matchplay stage was just get as far as you can.

"I managed to edge past Martin but by that stage I was really tiring. It was then nip and tuck with Steve Brennan in the semi-final before I found a bit of form over the closing holes to edge that one."

By his own admission, Frontal's game throughout the week was not explosive, it was more about survival.

He continued: "I knew Nathan would be a strong opponent in the final, he's younger than me, plays off a better handicap of +2 and was a good ball striker.

"So for the first 18 holes I was trying not to play myself out of the final.

"Probably the most important putt I holed all week was the one on the 18th on Saturday morning, a 25-footer that prevented Nathan going two up.

"I just kept trying to hang in there after that and I eventually got one up at the turn and I knew then if I got two up over the back nine I'd be able to hang on. I didn't really start thinking I could win it until I reached the 12th."

Four holes later, he was champion, joining the likes of Howard Clark, Ian McKenzie, Iain Pyman, Richard Finch, Graeme Clark, Danny Willett and last year's winner Nigel Sweet.