Middlesex professional Lee Fickling and his amateur partner Martin Dench proved that last is not always least as they brought up the rear of the field to win the East Region qualifier for the Gulf Air International Pro-Captain Challenge, supported by BMW.
Long-time leaders Daniel Field and Paul Scott, of East Herts Golf Club, were the fourth group out and faced an increasingly anxious wait as rival pairs came and went without challenging their five-under-par 66 at Sandy Lodge.
But after two and a half hours sat in the clubhouse they saw their place at the place at the top eclipsed by Bush Hill Park duo Fickling and 12-handicapper Dench, the last group in a field of 36 pairs, as they carded a 64 to win by two strokes and take the one spot open for the Grand Final to be held in Bahrain later this year.
Fickling and Dench recorded birdies on three of their first four holes to get off to a good start and with two more coming at eight and nine they were out in 30. Back-to-back birdies followed at 11 and 12 and despite not taking advantage of the two par fives in the last four holes they still had enough to win.
"It was a good score. The wind was difficult but we didn't really make many mistakes and we holed out really well," said the 47-year-old Fickling, who has been head pro at Bush Hill for three and a half years.
"We were five under to the turn and were hanging on on the back nine. The whole field had the bad weather at some time but the wind picked up a bit after the rain.
"We had no idea how well we were doing while we were out there. I was quite surprised to win by two shots. If we had really been buzzing it we could have shot 60 but 64 was just good enough to win."
The Bush Hill pair have a luxury trip to Bahrain to look forward to later this year now and Fickling said he was well aware of what was in store as he had spoken to former champion David Wilton (Muswell Hill) who won in 2006 and reached the final again the following year.
"I've been to Dubai a few times but never Bahrain and it will be brilliant," he added.
"I have heard from Dave, he told me how good it is. Once you are there you are looked after very well and if you can win it (the Grand Final) that is a bonus."
Field admitted they did not think they had done enough to win but as the day went on their hopes were raised.
"When we came off the course we felt we needed one or two more shots," said the 31-year-old.
"We made two bogeys on five and six and we lost momentum. Paul came in tremendously from nine to 15 but just at the end we got hit by the rain at the wrong time and it stopped us in our tracks.
"We then sat around for two and a half hours and by the end of it we thought we were in with a chance. The scoring was not that low in the afternoon and we kind of got excited but I said Lee was the one to watch out for and so it proved."
Field has a baby due in the next couple of weeks and he asked his wife before the event whether she wanted him to qualify. "She said yes but she didn't know it was for a week in Bahrain!" he joked.
The winning pair can now look forward to a luxury trip to the Middle East which will begin with a chauffeur-driven ride to the airport and includes a stay at a five-star hotel during the final.