WIMBORNE'S Matt Hector will begin his bid to qualify for the Open on Monday – with a borrowed set of irons.

The Ferndown ace had 11 days ago been told by the R&A – golf's governing body – that his Ping i5 irons and Cleveland CG12 wedges had not met the required groove specifications to compete at Remedy Oak.

And while Hector was quickly able to source new wedges through his club, procuring irons proved more of a problem.

Fortunately, the 28-year-old's club-mate Simon Brouard, who will caddy for Hector in regional qualifying, agreed to lend his clubs to the cause.

And a grateful Hector told the Daily Echo: "It's been a bit of a disaster but that's life!

"When I entered, they asked me for club specifications and the day after I was accepted into qualifying, I received an email saying that my clubs didn't meet the R&A's requirements.

"I had to act pretty quickly as I only had a limited time to get it sorted. David Miles and Scott Godfrey at Ferndown fixed me up with some wedges but the stumbling block was the irons.

"I had to go back to the drawing board and I looked into buying some but they would not have got here in time so a really good friend of mine very kindly let me borrow his."

Dorset player Hector admitted he had been relieved to receive notice of his illegal clubs prior to the event and revealed that borrowed irons would make a tough task even more difficult.

Hector added: "If I still played plenty competitive golf like I used to, maybe I would have been aware of the problems I encountered. I was just grateful that the R&A contacted me because otherwise I would have been panicking on the day.

"Playing with different irons will feel strange because of the difference in yardage. The latest technology means the ball goes further and I'm not used to it.

"There's probably going to be seven to 12 yards of difference between the irons so I just have to adapt to that.

"Of course, the clubs aren't set up for me but I'm just grateful that Simon came to the rescue. Given that he's going to caddy for me, the pressure is on him to get me round, not me!

"I never have big expectations of getting to the Open. If I got to final qualifying, I would be over the moon. For me, it's a good day out and I aim to enjoy it."

Hector, a business development manager for Ridgeway Hampshire MINI, might have had little practice time with his new irons but he is set to get a healthy dose of course time this weekend.

The Open hopeful is due to compete at the Wimborne Cup at Parkstone today and is also set to tee it up in a Ferndown club match tomorrow.

He continued: "It's not an ideal situation but at least I'm taking part in Open qualifying.

"I don't play a lot of golf these days so by Tuesday I'm going to be golfed out!"