The rest of the recovery birdies didn't come until the second nine where he birdied 3, 5 and 7. Tom's afternoon was drama filled after a four birdie front nine, Tom parred everything until the 14th where he hit a poor wedge into the pond at the shot par four.

Off came the shoes and Tom somehow splashed out to 10ft and holed for par. Tom played the 17th bravely with a drive and 9 iron to 15ft then miscued his last tee shot pulling it left into the rough. 220 yards were was left and all he could hit from the lie was his 5 iron, which he nailed to 18ft.

James Bromley led after the first round, having fashioned a 68 (-3) with six birdies and a 6 at the 17th, to lead by two from Elliot Forbes and Chris Dougill, all after a sleepness night when his 11 week old son Lucas woke up early.

'I haven't played 36 since last August and whilst Lucas has been almost sleeping through the night, he's started a bit of a growth spurt this week so he wants a bottle every three hours or so.'

As the afternoon scores came in, the stories of near misses came from many players

Chris Dougill rued his play from 100 yards and in -

'Inside 100 yards I was over par and considering how many time I was hitting from there , it really wasn't good - my wedges are ----'

'I lost it when I three putted the second - I then hit some poor shots coming home,' said first round leader Bromley, adding slightly tongue in cheek -

'I'm not good enough for the Hearsall team - apparently'

Fellow Hearsall member Stuart Bloxham was philosophical about his near miss, after being -3 for his second round with just nine holes to play - 'I missed too many putts from under 5ft - that's why I didn't win.'

'Having eagled 7 I just ran out of fairway at the next, then hit my second with my eyes shut. A 6 down 8 was just not good enough.'

Clayton Turvey was another who made a hash of 17 - and of the 8th - in his first round 74. His second round 70 was good enough for tied third and a near miss but neither Dougill, Bromley or Turvey were making enough birdies

The sorry story of the day was Jack Sant who made birdies for himself and everyone else - he birdied 13 of the 36 holes, more than 33% of the two rounds..

But, and it was a big but, he was 15 over for the other 26 holes, mistakes such as -

Doubles on 5th and 6th, both less than 350 yards - and of course the 17th

Nine singles - the 3rd (X2), 12 (again a short par four), the 11th (but it is the toughest hole on the course.

'It was just course management' said Jack,'It was pretty horrendous.'

'I felt like I could birdie every hole .... but bogies were easy to make.'

The compensation was a second consecutive win in the team championship for Ladbrook Park, by one shot from Handsworth whom they had just beaten in the Scratch League, all done in partnership with Fred Jewsbury and Chris Freeman.

Pre tournament favourite Rob Browning just had -

'One of those days - just one of those days. I was hitting it good but it just didn't happen.'

For Elliot Forbes there were only four red numbers on his card all day -

'I was in the trees a lot, just losing everything right. I had lots of recovery shots to play and from 5ft and in I holed out very well all day.'

'In the afternoon, I hit it close on 4 and 5 but didn't make either - then I somehow chipped across the lake at the 6th - it was just a shot out of the top few grooves on the clubface.'

That shot though did make it after doing a 'Barnes Wallace' but Elliot took three to get down and when he blocked his tee shot right on the par five 7th, he could not make birdie and his chance was gone.

'I'm more bothered about how I handled myself after that start. I trebled the 17th to miss qualifying for the Brabazon on Tuesday but after that start I knew I was playing good enough to win - and I just did it. I am really proud of what I did.'

Tom will take his great golf to Wales tomorrow, to join Andy Sullivan and Fred Jewsbury in the field for the Wales Open. He will also be back at Maxstoke next Friday, to try and win the matchplay.

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Maxstoke was, as ever when it has hosted a Warwickshire championship, the perfect hosts with the course in excellent condition