Windermere pro hopes to be paired with Norman at Open

Simon Edwards will compete in his first Open Championship at St Andrews

Windermere professional Simon Edwards is hoping to play alongside his hero Greg Norman at next month's Open Championship at St Andrews.

Edwards came through a four-man play-off at Ladybank in final qualifying to book his place at the home of golf.

"It's a great position to be in," he told BBC Radio Cumbria. "It would be quite nice to still be playing alongside the top players on Sunday.

"My hero has always been Greg Norman so I would love to play with him."

Edwards finished five under for his two rounds at Ladybank after carding 71 and 66 to finish tied third.

He then went through in a play-off against Scotland's Callum Macaulay, England's Paul Wesselingh and Clodomiro Carranza from Argentina after holing a five-footer for birdie on the first hole.

"It went pretty well in both rounds," said Edwards, 39. "I shot level par in the morning, which was steady, then I finished great in the afternoon with three birdies in the last five holes.

"The three guys had missed on the first play-off hole and I hit an eight iron to three and a half feet.

"When you stand over a putt not able to feel your arms or your legs you tend to be on auto-pilot a bit but, when it went in, it was the best feeling in the world."

"I'll hit it off the first on the Thursday, go find it and try not to hit it so often...that's how I play golf."

Simon Edwards

Edwards was a Welsh junior, youth and senior international golfer between 1987 and 1991 before turning professional at Wrexham Golf Club in 1992.

He has played in three BMW PGA Championships at Wentworth and was a member of two PGA Cup teams in 2003 and in the victorious side of 2005.

He also won two PGA North Region Order of Merit titles in 2005 and 2006 and was Captain of the Cheshire and North Wales PGA in 2008.

He said: "I've won over 200 events at my level but it doesn't get any bigger than the Open at St Andrews.

"I used to play in the St Andrews Links Trophy as an amateur but I grew up playing links golf so I know about it."

Edwards, who moved to Windermere in November 2008, is not planning to undertake any special preparation for the Open.

"I'm going to keep coming to work," he added. "My real job is head pro at Windermere and that's where my priorities lie.

"The Open is fantastic and something I've always wanted to do but my priorities lie with the members and visitors to Windermere Golf Club.

"I'm just going to go and enjoy the whole thing. I'll hit it off the first on the Thursday, go find it and try not to hit it so often. That's how I play golf."