Golf can be a cruel sport at times. Just ask Camiko Smith who experienced fluctuating fortunes in the opening round of The Q Hotels Collection Open in Lincolnshire, England.

Things appeared promising for the local professional at one over with six holes left to play at Forest Pines Golf Club.

However, his fortunes took a dramatic turn for the worse as three bogeys and a double at the par-5 17th sent him spiralling down the leaderboard.

When the dust had settled, Smith was left to ponder what might have been after a six-over 79 left him tied for 102nd among the 137-strong field.

“My goal was to put myself in position for birdie or par and my front nine was good,” Smith told The Royal Gazette.

“I was doing that and a couple of shots just leaked off on me and I made a couple of bogeys and a double

“The scoring was there but a couple of shots got away from me and I found myself in the trees and had to punch out and was unable to save par every time.”

The 39-year-old had plenty of cause for optimism after carding his only birdie of the round between two bogeys to make the turn at one-over before disaster struck and things might have panned out different had Smith converted several birdie chances.

“I gave myself a lot of birdie chances, I had roughly about eight of them,” he said.

However, despite his misfortune the player remains optimistic of making his second cut on the UK based Tour heading into the penultimate round of the 54-hole tournament at Forest Pines Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort.

“There’s still a chance of making the cut and I just have to stay locked in, be a bit more precise and can’t lose focus,” he said.

“I just have to be patient as I was on the front nine. I was very patient hitting away from flags because they are cut on the short side of the hole so if you miss left or right you can find yourself struggling to make par.

“This golf course is different from what we play in Bermuda. You can’t just fly at every flag stick and really have to be precise.”

England’s Tom Plumb shot a bogey-free seven-under 66, that included seven birdies, to carve out a two-shot lead over the rest of the field.