{"id":191246,"date":"2025-06-17T08:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T08:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/191246\/"},"modified":"2025-06-17T08:48:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T08:48:09","slug":"qualification-for-the-open-at-rochester-cobham-park-to-include-former-premier-league-footballer-jimmy-bullard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/191246\/","title":{"rendered":"Qualification for The Open at Rochester &#038; Cobham Park to include former Premier League footballer Jimmy Bullard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Golfers can take a step closer to playing in The Open &#8211; with former professional footballer Jimmy Bullard among those hoping to make the cut.<\/p>\n<p>Former Corinthian and Gravesend &amp; Northfleet midfielder Bullard, 46, is due to tee off at Rochester &amp; Cobham Park on Monday.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rthmb\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=\" http:=\"\" viewbox=\"0 0 2106 1787\" alt=\"Jimmy Bullard, the ex-Premier League footballer pictured playing against Charlton in his playing days at Wigan, is due to be involved in Open qualifying at Rochester &amp; Cobham Park next week. Picture: Matthew Walker\" data-root=\"\/_media\/img\/\" data-path=\"JSIJ2E1YUX5GI9PN1SYB.jpg\" data-ar=\"1.18\"\/>Jimmy Bullard, the ex-Premier League footballer pictured playing against Charlton in his playing days at Wigan, is due to be involved in Open qualifying at Rochester &amp; Cobham Park next week. Picture: Matthew Walker<\/p>\n<p>He was scheduled to take part in regional qualifying at the same venue, <a href=\"https:\/\/kentonline.co.uk\/medway\/sport\/ex-footballer-to-play-for-open-place-308538\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">only to pull out in the build-up to the competition.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Bullard, who played for Wigan, Fulham and Hull, plays golf to a scratch handicap and regularly takes on famous faces as a part of YouTube channel GOLF LIFE.<\/p>\n<p>Bullard\u2019s bid to qualify for the Open comes after he tied for 14th at the Costa Navarino Legends Tour Trophy, an event which ran from Thursday until Saturday in Greece.<\/p>\n<p>He finished on a five-under aggregate &#8211; the same score as 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell &#8211; as Bullard outscored the likes of Paul Lawrie and David Drysdale.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thoroughly enjoyed the three days,\u201d Bullard told the Bunkered website. \u201cI loved every minute of it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI get better every time I go out in competition. The more I put myself in the window, keep playing with a pencil in my hand, that\u2019s important.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s different than playing with your mates and when we film content with GolfLife. Even though this is GolfLife &#8211; we filmed it &#8211; it\u2019s different.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s trying to swing freer, trust your game and enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bullard attempted to qualify for The Open in 2013 immediately after he retired from football, missing out by four shots at the regional stage.<\/p>\n<p>The whole Open process sees a field of approximately 2,000 hopefuls whittled down until at least 16 are granted entry to the tournament proper, being held at Northern Ireland\u2019s Royal Portrush on July 17-20 this year.<\/p>\n<p>Bullard, affiliated to The Wisley Golf Club in Woking, is due to tee off at 12.09pm, while Bearsted golfer Matt Ford is expected to start at 2.15pm at Rochester &amp; Cobham Park.<\/p>\n<p>Ford <a href=\"https:\/\/kentonline.co.uk\/maidstone\/sport\/its-not-normal-but-it-doesnt-mean-i-cant-enjoy-it-and-pl-270175\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">qualified for The Open for the first time in 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Those successful at regional qualifying then head to final qualifying which will be held at four venues &#8211; including Royal Cinque Ports in Deal &#8211; on Tuesday, July 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Golfers can take a step closer to playing in The Open &#8211; with former professional footballer Jimmy Bullard&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4106],"tags":[2826,78296,2515,78297,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-191246","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-gravesham-sport","10":"tag-medway-sport","11":"tag-non-league","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114697843728224000","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}