Andy DevaneyThree down with five holes remaining is not quite obituary time in match play, but somebody has usually begun choosing the typeface. Graham Marshall had other ideas.
The Kirby Muxloe golfer overturned precisely that deficit to beat Stefan Priest of Hallowes 1-up at Broadstone Golf Club and win the 2026 English Senior Men’s Amateur Championship, completing the sort of late escape that makes a scorecard look far calmer than the afternoon actually felt.
Marshall finds the shots when the room gets smaller
Marshall’s recovery was built on birdies at the 14th and 16th, both secured with tremendous putts, before he won the 17th and 18th to finish the job. Four holes, four jolts of momentum, and suddenly Priest’s advantage had disappeared.
The champion did not attempt to make the achievement sound routine.
“It’s definitely my best golfing achievement. It’s two levels above anything else I’ve ever done in my career.
“It sounds like you could say it again and I still wouldn’t believe it! It’s magnificent.
“I’d like to congratulate Broadstone – it’s been in fabulous condition all week, and also my opponents in every round who have all been gracious – which is what all us senior golfers are all about. We always play in good spirit and every game has been that way this week.”
A memory from 24 years ago proves useful
Golf has a long memory, particularly when a player needs one. Marshall said the belief required for the closing stretch came from an event he had won more than two decades earlier.
“I had to dig on past experiences from an event I won 24 years ago! But the memories are still fresh and I just had to believe that if I got the chance, I had to grasp it.”
That chance arrived, and Marshall grasped it rather firmly. By the time the match reached the last, the pressure had changed addresses.
Asked how the evening might proceed, he offered the week’s least complicated strategy: “There’ll be beer, champagne and definitely some cake somewhere!”
Richard Latham dominates the inaugural over-65s final
There was rather less suspense in the English Super Senior Men’s Amateur Championship, although no shortage of quality. Richard Latham of Woodhall Spa beat Broadstone chairman Jon Tyror 6&5 to claim the inaugural over-65s title and his fourth national title.
Latham birdied the 1st and 3rd, came close to an eagle at the 9th and did not lose a hole in the final. Tyror’s verdict was admirably economical: “He is certainly one of the best players I have ever played against”.
The week asked plenty of Latham, 68, who completed seven rounds in temperatures he said averaged around 30.
“It feels great, I’m over the moon. The weather has been hard on golf courses and we’ve played in temperatures averaging around 30 all week, so it has been challenging.
“This is a lovely course but with the slopes and ground being so hard, it’s been tough to play – so it’s been about concentration and being patient which is an important word in competitive golf – and I’m not always very good at that!
“If you win anything these days, there are so many good players around, it’s a moment, and I love to win, so if you do it, it makes you feel very good – and in relation to everything else, I’ve won four national titles that I’m blessed and fortunate to have achieved.”
A new championship gives older competitors another target
Latham’s victory carried an extra piece of significance. The over-65s competition was being played for the first time, giving senior golfers a national title specifically beyond the age threshold.
“The fact that England Golf have given people over the age of 65 the opportunity to compete for longer is fantastic because we’re all not getting any younger, and those of us who still hit lots of balls as I do, are determined to carry on playing and have something to aim for.
“There comes a point in your life where you know you’re not quite good enough anymore to play at certain levels so if you can play at the next level, that’s fantastic – and we’ve been given that chance by England Golf.
“I had to think hard about which event I was going to play in (over 55s or over 65s) but clearly now I’m glad I’ve picked this one! Playing is a really big thing as one day you’ll wake up and know you can’t do it anymore, so it’s really important we have the chance to do this.”
For competitive golf, that is the more interesting point beneath the trophy photograph. Careers do not end at a convenient age, and neither does the appetite to test a swing against somebody else’s. A championship specifically for the over-65s gives that competitive instinct somewhere meaningful to go.
Broadstone produces two very different champions
One final was a late scramble from the edge of defeat; the other was controlled almost from the opening holes. Together they gave Broadstone a fitting double act: Marshall winning with nerve when almost out of road, Latham winning with authority and patience.
Latham, inevitably, had domestic reality waiting beyond the trophy presentation. “I’ll have to speak to the lovely Lisa (wife) and I’m sure she’ll be delighted – and I’ll have list of house chores to do when I get home!”
Championship golf can deliver immortality for an afternoon. Apparently it still cannot get you out of the chores.
