DALE Whitnell will turn his focus to the Jamega Tour after missing out on qualification for next month’s Open Championship.

The Colchester-born professional was hoping to secure one of three available slots for the coveted event when he took part in final qualifying at Hillside.

But the 27-year-old finished tied for 25th on four-over-par, with English trio Jack Senior, Paul Howard and David Coupland securing the three available qualifying spots for this year’s Open, which takes place at Royal Troon.

Whitnell said: “I was quite happy with how I played and there weren’t really any negatives to come out of it.

“Making it through to final qualifying has given me confidence and I felt quite relaxed around the golf course.

“Having recently had a break, I was a bit rusty going into two rounds of golf in one day but there were some good moments.

“I’ve got qualifying school coming up and it’s given me things to work on and things to look at.”

Whitnell made a solid start, with a birdie on the second hole accompanying eight pars on the front nine of his morning round.

And although the Forrester Park player registered a bogey on the par-five 11th hole, a birdie on the 14th helped the Tiptree golfer finish his opening round on one-under-par.

“I was one of the first out and although I didn’t play that great, I managed to putt myself out of trouble,” said Whitnell.

“I got up and down a couple of times which was nice and I thought that I’d finish my first round in around tenth place, which is where I was.”

But as conditions worsened, a double bogey on the par-four third hole was a setback.

A bogey followed on the seventh, before a welcome birdie on the eighth hole helped Whitnell steady the ship.

But three bogeys followed on the back nine as Whitnell finished his afternoon round on five-over-par and four-over-par overall.

Whitnell added: “I knew that I had to shoot a good score in the afternoon to qualify but by the time that I reached the second hole, it started chucking it down.

“It was a 45-minute wait to get started again and that can be difficult mentally.

“By the time I’d reached the fifth hole, play got suspended and the course was flooded.

“At that point, half the field were still in having lunch which was good for them.

“When play got underway again I had a couple of birdie chances on the first two holes but I had a poor start on the third and had a double bogey.

“I had my last four or five holes in perfect weather but the guys after me had 15 or 16 holes in that weather, which was lucky for them.

“Sometimes, you need to be in the right place at the right time and have a little bit of fortune go your way.”

Whitnell, who had booked his place at Hillside following an impressive performance in regional qualifying at Frilford Heath, will take part in The Leatherhead tournament on the Jamega Tour which starts on Monday.

He is building up for qualifying school for the European Tour, which begins in September.