Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick: Hallamshire Golf Club's role in the rise of a golfing brotherhood

Last year they headed north of the border to follow Matt Fitzpatrick, the freshly-minted US Open champion, and Barclay Brown, a 21-year-old amateur, around St Andrews for the 150th Open.

On Thursday they head west to Hoylake on the Wirral to follow Matt again, but this time competing alongside his younger brother Alex, who less than a year after turning professional has qualified for his first major championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.

For one club anywhere in the world to produce so many Open competitors - let alone have a major champion in Matt within that number - is quite an achievement, and one the club is rightly proud of.

Why Hallamshire, a members club in an affluent part of Sheffield, has produced this crop of golfers owes much to the quirks of its terrain and the will of some of its most influential individuals.

Tom Keeley, an Evertonian by birth, moved to Sheffield with work in 1986 and immediately took up membership of the club.

He has witnessed the rise of the Fitzpatricks as a playing partner and head of the mixed section.

“We knew the Fitzpatricks were good, and that that block of juniors as a whole was good, Barclay Brown being another good example of that,” Keeley tells The Yorkshire Post.

“It’s surprising that we’ve had had two lots of brothers from that era who are coming through because you’ve not just got the Fitzpatricks, Barclay’s younger brother Elliott is also a very good player.”

As to the why, Barclay Brown attributed his rise up the amateur rankings to the amount of chipping and putting competitions he took part in at Hallamshire, something Alex Fitzpatrick has alluded to since earning a spot in the Open at final qualifying at West Lancashire earlier this month.

Keeley explains: “Hallamshire hasn’t got long practice facilities, so you can only hit six-iron, or for those guys less than that.

“That’s why they sharpened up their chipping and putting, and they’ve all got good short games.

“The other thing about Hallamshire is the greens aren’t that big, but they’re a high-standard and this year they’ve been faster than ever.

“A lot of people say to us your greens are terrifically fast and we say ‘yeah we know, don’t get topside or you’ll be in trouble’.

“And that has obviously helped them with the accuracy of their irons.”

Key individuals also played an active role.

“The other reason that they were brought on was the club made a decision when they had this strong junior section that the juniors could play in the men’s competition on a Saturday. This will have been when Matt was 14, he was playing against the men,” says Keeley.

“Some people at the time I would imagine frowned upon the fact that they could play in the men’s competition.

“But the pro at the time, Geoff Tickell, pushed for it that they should play in the competitions and Matt’s dad Russ pushed for it as well. Barclay’s dad Seb also worked with Russ on promoting the juniors.

“Both of the Fitzptricks had outside coaching as well. Matt was with Mike Walker and Pete Cowen had an influence, plus they went down to the England Golf academy at Woodhall Spa.

“They came on because of that plus the combination of everything they were getting at Hallamshire, where they honed their game.

“Hallamshire is such a tight course that Matt must think it’s Christmas when he goes to America with those big greens and wide fairways.”

Even so, Matt has had his greatest success on the more shot-making golf courses in the States, like Brookline where he won the US Open, and Hilton Head where he took victory in the RBC Heritage in April. In doing so, the elder Fitzpatrick has established himself as one of the best players in the world, someone who will tee off at Royal Liverpool on Thursday with genuine belief that he can win the Open.

Alex is no less confident, but this being his major championship debut 10 years after his brother made his at Muirfield, this week will be all about gaining experience of golf at the highest level.

Back in 2013, a big contingent of Hallamshire members followed Matt, just as they did Barclay 12 months ago, and just as they will with Alex when he tees off at 11.36 on Thursday.

“Matt’s more meticulous and more careful, whereas Alex is a bit more gung-ho,” observes Keeley.

“We’ve not seen that yet because we haven’t seen him on TV as much, but just playing with him at the club, he doesn’t think about it, he’d just walk up to the ball and hit it and it would go where he wanted it to, he’s got that kind of talent.”