Allan Harrison playing the Senior Men's County Champion of Champions 2023, Woodhall Spa Golf Club. (Nick Butcher via SWNS)
By Faye Mayern
An amateur golfer has set what is believed to be a new record by firing seven consecutive birdies — and eight in nine holes.
Allan Harrison, 64, played a stretch of golf so pure it bordered on the unbelievable at Fairhaven Golf Club in Lancashire on July 30.
The birdie avalanche began after Allan found himself 4-over after the front nine — so stopped for a pasty and a drink to start the back nine "fresh."
The amateur golfer then went on a tear, bagging seven consecutive birdies — before adding a final one on the 18th.
The odds were more than 1 in 455,000 for Allan — while in general, the odds across all golfers is a staggering 1 in 322 billion.
Allan, from Southport, said: "I was 4-over after the front nine. I went into the halfway house, had a pasty and a drink, and the lads laughed when I said I'd start the back nine fresh."
On the 10th tee, Allan stiffed his approach to six feet and rolled in the first birdie.
The par-5 11th brought another birdie after a neat chip to four feet.
At the 12th, Allan, who has been golfing for 50 years, holed his longest putt of the day — a 12-footer that "just dropped in the can."
His partners looked at him with raised eyebrows and Harrison said: "I joked that I'd had seven in a row before, about 18 months ago at Southport & Ainsdale.
"They looked at me like: 'Really?'"
Allan Harrison hit eight birdies in his last nine holes. (Nick Butcher via SWNS)
On that day, one of the group, a 14-handicapper, was so impressed he asked if Allan was free for the next four-ball competition.
Allan agreed — and then didn't make a single birdie that day.
He laughed: "He was a bit disappointed in me."
The 13th then fell to another birdie. The 14th, with its tricky front-to-back slope, was tamed with an approach to three feet.
On 15, a tidy chip left another tap-in and the 16th was a long, demanding par-4.
Allan struck a pure 4-iron to 10 feet and holed the putt.
Seven birdies in a row, matched only by his extraordinary run at Southport & Ainsdale.
His playing partners were now fully invested and Allan said: "They were cheering me on, saying I had a chance at eight to break my own record."
The 17th, a 157-yard par-3, came agonizingly close to delivering. Harrison's 7-iron pitched a foot from the hole, but ran six feet past.
He misread the putt — the only blemish in the sequence. He added: "My playing partner pointed out the pitch mark and said I must've nearly holed out — but it ran six feet past and I misread the putt."
The birdie avalanche began after Allan found himself 4-over after the front nine and pulled the game back on the 10th tee. (Nick Butcher via SWNS)
But on 18, he added one more.
After avoiding newly placed bunkers, he found himself blocked by a tree and had to manufacture a back-foot long-iron, leaving 60 yards over a trap. He clipped a lob-wedge to a foot.
Despite the fireworks on day one as he led the Silver Pheasant event with 40 points, Allan finished runner-up after he couldn't produce the same kind of heroics on day two.
He added: "You don't get opportunities like that every week.
"It would've been nice to win, but it was still a nice afternoon."
A streak of eight birdies in a nine-hole stretch like Allan's happens very rarely in professional golf — let alone amateur golf.
England Golf stats across January to July 2026 show that for golfers with a handicap below 0.0 (Allan's WHS Index is 0.4), the average birdies per 18-hole round is 2.74.
If you halve that for nine holes — the average would be 1.37 per round.
Even the leader in birdie average on the PGA Tour typically hovers around 4.8 to 5.0 birdies per 18 holes (about 2.5 per nine holes) while Allan enjoyed eight.