Archibald cuts a dash at Dartford

PGA Europro Tour challenger Stuart Archibald shot a class leading six-under-par 63 to win his first PGA in England (South) tournament - the Dartford Pro-Am.

Grabbing the winner’s cheque for £1,000, Archibald’s performance was enough to push the excellent 64s of regular contenders Russell Buxton (Hassocks) and Jordan Godwin (Barnehurst) into second place. David Osborn (West Hill) and Jamie Harris (Nevill) shared the next spot with 65s.

Playing the course for the first time, Archibald’s start looked a lot less promising when he opened with a bogey. Two birdies at the third and fourth holes helped repair the damage, but he was still only one-under-par at the turn.

At the 10^th he holed out for a birdie three and found inspiration after parring the short 11^th, charging through the next four holes with four birdies on the trot to reach six-under-par.

He bogeyed the short 16^th but bounced back immediately with another birdie at the next hole, finishing with a 63 to go straight to the top of the leaderboard where he remained unchallenged by a strong field.

Archibald was genuinely delighted, saying: “Winning here is terrific in all sorts of ways. Firstly, I played with three of Dartford’s senior members who were great fun and really helped me – they made the day a great experience for me, especially as it was my first time at their club.

“Despite playing the course blind, I used my driver quite a bit and set up a number of birdies. While some of my second shots were really close to the point of nearly holing two wedge shots, I didn’t actually hole anything over 10 feet.

“I even missed a six-footer on the 16^th for a par after getting out of a somewhat tricky spot where anything could have happened. Moreover, I’ve been off injured for two weeks with a back problem, so today I just decided to go for it rather than protect my back, a gamble that paid off handsomely.

“There are clearly lots of benefits and opportunities for players in my position, and so I’m now planning to play in many more regional events next year.

“Richard Wallis (North Foreland) and Richard Edginton (Royal Wimbledon) have been encouraging me a lot to play in the PGA (South) events, although one of them did point out afterwards that the idea wasn’t to come along and win everything!”