AS Rob Dinwiddie brought his first round of Open Championship golf to an end at St Andrews, the grandstands were empty, the light had almost disappeared and the temperature had dropped significantly.

Adding to those things, Dinwiddie and his playing partners Rikard Karlberg and Taichi Teshima were being made to wait for what seemed an eternity on every shot. It was not exactly the finish he wanted on day one on the Old Course after 16 years of waiting to compete for the Claret Jug.

And while a one-over 73 was by no means woeful by the debutant, the Barnard Castle hopeful was left with an overwhelming sense of disappointment. It was easy to understand why.

When Dinwiddie signed his scorecard after emerging from the 18th green and walking past the Royal and Ancient Clubhouse with 10pm showing on the clock he had to stare at the three holes which effectively ruined his big day.

A bogey at 15 was followed by a double bogey at 16 and then a further dropped shot on the Road Hole. It is a sign of just how well he started that he can still think about making the cut this weekend and it was more the conditions he encountered late on rather than his own errors which proved costly.

He said: “I always knew it was going to be tough. It was so slow, cold and dark. It was tough. I didn’t really play that many bad shots either. The last few are the hardest holes, and into the wind as well.

“I hit some good shots coming in but I didn’t hit it that well. But it’s tough. it’s past 9.30 at night, it’s pretty dark, you have to wait for tractors driving across, buggies driving across, so it was not easy.”

When Dinwiddie holed a ten-foot putt for birdie at the tenth he was sitting four-under, level with American sensation Jordan Spieth in tied eighth. The manner in which he had birdied the first, third, fifth and sixth calmed things down and increased confidence among his family and friends following him.

“I had two great shots early on and birdied the first,” he said. “Even though I bogeyed the second after finding the bunker, I picked shots up again at three of the next four. I also had a couple more chances and got another good birdie at ten. Things were going well.”

But Dinwiddie failed to make par at the 174-yarder which followed when his iron from the tee landed in the valley out the back. His putt from deep left him with a long putt to save par and he missed it.

The 32-year-old said: “I knew I had to stay short of the green and I hit it over the back, it was a bogey but that wasn’t the end of the world because after that I then had two good chances for birdies and I felt I was playing well.

“The 16th was really annoying because I was in a reasonable position off the tee. I ended up in a bunker against the face, couldn’t get it out. I splashed it out. It was hard after that because it was dark it was difficult.”

A bogey at 17, where not a single player made birdie all day, put him over par and he steadied himself to end solidly with a par down the last. He has work to do today, but he still has every chance of making the weekend.

“I could pick out my friends and family easy enough, they were the only ones left!” joked Dinwiddie. “OK, that’s not true because there were a few more on the 18th. It will feel more like the British Open on Friday with an 11-o-clock tee time.

“But this was hard. Level par is probably the score I need. If I can shoot under par then who knows? I need luck with the weather but we all do. I have seen the forecast and it looks like 35 mph winds and rain. We will see.

“This was slow. It was dark and really difficult. It means a lot to everyone so people have to take time. I knew it would be tough. I just have to pray the weather isn’t as bad as it is supposed to be.

“I did hit the ball alright but it was so cold and difficult, it was just hard to make progress. I didn’t make that many bad swings. It was just difficult in the end. We will get stuck in tomorrow and go again.”

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