Ablett makes himself at home

After his West Hill win last week, local hero James Ablett (Lee-on-the-Solent) has shot a six-under-par 63 to claim another emphatic victory in the Lee-on-the-Solent Pro-Am.

Finding his winning touch again to take the winner’s cheque for £750, Ablett produced five birdies and back-to-back eagles for his 63, leaving southern stars Andy Raitt (St. George’s Hill) and Nick Redfern (AIA Group) trailing two shots behind with sizzling 65s, followed by David Callaway (Milford) on three-under-par. Pro-Am organiser and chairman of The PGA in England (South) - Lee-on-the-Solent’s own PGA Professional, Rob Edwards also found himself in the prize money.                  

Ablett made a spectacular start, birdying the second, third and fourth and then adding two sensational eagles on the trot, one with a seven iron downwind to 10 feet, and the other with a three wood to 25 feet, to reach seven-under-par for six holes.

A bogey at the short seventh spoiled his run, but a two foot birdie putt at the 10^th put Ablett back on track, only to drop two more shots at the 12^th and the short 13^th.

One more birdie at the 16^th went some way to repairing the damage but, having equalled the course record, Ablett was delighted to be back on pole position again with his second title in the bag in under a week. “Local knowledge helps of course,” he said, “but I played really well this time and the putter was hot.”

However, Ablett had some work to do on the 17^th and 18^th as he ran both approach putts well past in his efforts to find one more birdie, and had to hole a three foot return putt and then another from eight foot to card his sensational 63.

Ablett was full of praise for the condition of the course. “The new head greenkeeper’s done a great job. The other players were saying that the course and especially the greens are the best they’ve seen them for a long time.” 

He continued, “The three dropped shots were annoying, especially as two of them were on short holes, but it’s the best score I’ve done for a while. Things I’ve been working on started to come good at West Hill, and today shows it’s really paying off.”