Atkinson hails Bucks move after sealing debut final place

Lewis Atkinson has hailed his move to The Buckinghamshire as the catalyst for a fine display that secured his qualification to the Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship.

Atkinson, who has only been in his new job a matter of months, won the South qualifying event at a rain-hit Lambourne Golf Club after carding a five-under-par round of 67, winning by two shots ahead of East Berkshire’s Paul Newman.

He beat the weather by finishing before a delay of over two hours due to heavy rain.

Both Atkinson and Newman will be joined by 17 other qualifiers, including 2008 champion Paul Simpson, at the £78,700 Peugeot-supported final at Blairgowrie in Scotland on August 5-8.

But Atkinson admitted the competitive side of his game has been revived after joining The Buckinghamshire, based at Denham, last October.

“I’ve been playing quite well this year and this is the first time I’ve tried to get to the Glenmuir final so I’m pleased to get there,” said Atkinson, who turned pro in 2000 and says his proudest moment was playing in The Open at Royal Troon 10 years ago.

“But my game has been inspired since moving to The Buckinghamshire which is a wonderful place to work every day.

“I work very closely there with John O'Leary, the club Ambassador, and I get a lot of encouragement from him.

“I’ve only been there a few months, but I couldn’t be enjoying it more, the surroundings are superb.

“I actually took a break from playing for a couple of years to concentrate on coaching.

“But now I want to compete again and decided to try something different.

“I’m looking forward to going to Blairgowrie although I don’t know much about the course.”

Atkinson - who has also played on European Challenge Tour and the South African tour - admitted he got a favourable draw at Lambourne before turning in a winning display.

“I got lucky with the weather really,” he said. “It’d just started to rain as I was completing my round, I heard there was a two hour delay later. That would’ve made things difficult.

“I bogeyed the first hole when I went into the bunker, but I recovered and made four birdes in a row on the back nine.”