STUART Archibald was left to rue a nightmare final nine holes as he missed the cut for the third tournament in a row.

Playing in The Kerry London Championship on the EuroPro Tour at Burhill Golf Club, in Surrey, the Basingstoke professional made a good start, an opening round of 70 (-2) leaving him in contention at the end of the first day.

Playing the back nine first on day two, he picked up a further shot to get to -3 after 27 holes, but he then dropped seven shots over nine holes in dismal conditions on his way to a six-over-par round of 78.

Archibald's +4 total of 148 was not enough to see him qualify for the closing round, a story that is becoming sadly familiar.

The 30-year-old has missed the cut at all three of the EuroPro Tour events played so far this season. At the end of the year, the top five players in the standings will earn a place on the Challenge Tour, the second tier of European golf.

Archibald had hoped to make a fast start to the season, but he finds himself almost £5,000 off the pace. However, with £10,000 the first prize at most tournaments, he is not out of the running yet.

Things were looking good during Archibald's first round at Burhill. A birdie at the second was followed by a bogey at the next hole, but an eagle three at the par-five fifth and a further birdie at the seventh had him three-under-par.

A bogey at eight robbed him of a shot and while he made birdies at holes 12 and 16, bogeys at 15 and 18 meant he had to settle for an opening round of 70 (-2).

Despite the weather taking a turn for the worse on day two, Archibald picked up a further shot on the first nine holes of his second round.

However, things couldn't have gone much worse after this. Bogeys at holes one and three were followed by damaging doubled bogeys at the fifth and sixth, with a further dropped shot at the ninth, Archibald's final hole, sealing his fate.

The Worting golfer will be hoping to fare better at the end of this week, when he travels to Northumberland to play in The Dawson and Sanderson Foreign Exchange Classic at Longhirst Hall.