Barrie aiming to strike gold at Forest Pines

Beau Desert Golf Club’s Barrie Stevens hopes this will be a ‘golden year’ for him at next weeks Golfbreaks.com PGA Fourball Championship.

Stevens (pictured above) is partnering Little Aston PGA Professional Brian Rimmer at the Forest Pines event and the West Midlands pair hope they will finally be rewarded with some success after several failed attempts to get to the final.

The £28,750 showpiece, which is supported by BMW, will be held at Forest Pines Hotel and Golf Club in Lincolnshire on October 2-4 and while Stevens has represented the Cannock club in the final before, he's never managed to get there with former PGA Cup player Rimmer.

“You would think we’d be one of the more experienced pairings in the final - but actually this is the first time we’ve got there together,” explained Stevens.

“We must have made six or seven attempts and this time we finally made it, even though we needed a play-off to qualify so we’re hoping this is going to be the golden year for us!

“Funnily enough, I’ve got there twice without Brian as he was injured both times.”

Stevens says it is Rimmer who will go into the final in better form this year.

He added: “Brian won the Staffordshire Match Play Championship recently. I’ve actually being concentrating more on the playing side this year, but it’s been disappointing as I’ve had a few injuries which have held me back.

“We’ve got this final to try and end the season well and I’m looking forward to playing Forest Pines as it’s a tight course, a bit like Beau Desert. It's also long, and Brian’s more of a long player so we’ll gel.

“We’re good friends and play a lot in the winter. I think we’ll probably be one of the older pairings there, but we’ve certainly got experience on our side.”

Other Midlands teams taking part at Forest Pines include last year’s runners up Matthew Cort (Rothley Park) and Craig Shave (Whetstone).

Also taking part will be in-form Ian Walley (Kedleston Park) and James Whatley  (Morley Hayes); father and son pairing Gary and James Stafford (Burton On Trent); Mark Sparrow (Himley Hall) and Matt McGuire (Stoneleigh Deer Park); and  Jack Lynch with Kevin Lock (Horsley Lodge).