COLCHESTER professional Jamie Moul’s hope of clinching a coveted spot at The Open were dashed by two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen.

But despite suffering play-off heartbreak, the Stoke-by-Nayland golf club member says he was pleased with his performance at the final qualifying event at Woburn.

Moul was in impressive form on the Marquess’ course, shooting five-under-par after recording rounds of 71 and 68 over the 36-hole event.

It helped the 30-year-old finish joint third and put him into a play-off battle against South African Goosen and Adam Gee for the right to play at St Andrews.

Goosen birdied the first extra hole to progress and deny Moul a St Andrews spot – but the former Walker Cup player was nevertheless pleased with his efforts.

Moul said: “Performance-wise, it was very good and it’s nice to be playing well again and in that situation.

“It was a great thing to do but unfortunately, I just came up a little bit short and it was frustrating not to make it through.

“I was looking at the board thinking “I’m going to have to take Retief Goosen on to make it through”.

“There’s so few slots available at each venue – it’s tough to make it through, especially when you’re coming up against players such as Retief Goosen and Colin Montgomerie.”

Moul carded a first-round one-under-par score of 71, before shooting an impressive 68 in the afternoon to clinch his play-off place.

“It was hot and over 36 holes on a big golf course, it was a long, tough day,” added Moul, who turned professional in 2007.

“But the course was in great condition, probably the best I’ve seen it.

“I actually played better in the morning – I controlled the ball better but I didn’t take my opportunities when they came along.

“In the afternoon, I took a few more of my opportunities.

“I finished on five under and figured that would be enough for a play-off.

“But we did have to wait for quite a while for some of the later guys to finish and at one stage, it looked like one of them might knock us out of the play-off.”

Colchester’s Dale Whitnell also missed out on an Open Championship place, after finishing five-over-par in his final qualifying event at Hillside.

The Forrester Park professional finished tied for 25th place, after recording rounds of 77 and 72.