Barham and Page both on Route 66

Local hero Paul Page (Kings Hill) shot a sweet six-under-par 66 to tie with newly crowned PGA Southern Professionals champion Benn Barham at the Kings Hill Southern Professionals Championship Pro-Am.

The hard charging pair were three shots ahead of their four nearest rivals, with Nevill pair Jamie Harris and Michael Hart, Charlie Wilson (Littlestone) and Chris Gane (LefthandedGolf@Silvermere) all shooting three-under-par 69s.

Of this group, Gane’s and Wilson’s cards had the potential to match or surpass the winners, with both players making five birdies and an eagle. Two bogeys at the eighth and 14^th and a double bogey at the 18^th spelled a 69 for Gane, while Wilson managed to bogey the third and 15^th and then compounded things with a double at the 16^th.

Page and Barham both took home £550 for their performances. Nonetheless, Gane’s still out in front of Barham as far as the PGA South Money List for 2014 goes, with Harris just behind in third place.  

As winner of the PGA Southern Professionals Championship just a couple of weeks ago, Barham obviously knew how to make a low score at Kings Hill, and reeled off a flawless round with six birdies. Conversely, Page made eight birdies, but stumbled twice on the back nine with bogeys on the 11^th and the 18^th to drop back into a tie.

With playing conditions ideal and starting at the first, Page made a very fast start with birdies at the first three holes, followed by three more on the sixth, seventh and ninth to be out in six-under-par.

Starting on the short eight, Barham matched Page’s early pace with firing a deuce at the eighth, birdies at the two par-fives on the trot, the ninth and tenth, and then one more on the 13^th to reach four-under-par.

Page dropped a shot at the 11^th, made up for it at the 12^th and then moved ahead to seven-under-par after a birdie at the 13^th. Pars followed until the final hole where another dropped shot cost him top spot on his own, as Barham had fired off birdies at the first and the fourth to reach six-under-par, and then made three more pars to card a 66 and a share of top place.