Beard is Honiton's Special Agent in Bowood Win

Estate agent Richard Beard closed the deal on a trip to Spain for Honiton Golf Club.

Beard partnered PGA Professional James Pickard as they won the SkyCaddie PGA Pro-Captain Challenge North B qualifier held at Bowood Golf & Country Club in Wiltshire.

The Devon pair totalled 45 points from the event to finish three ahead of Martyn Thompson and John Warner from Dorset’s Parkstone Golf Club.

And 13-handicapper Beard sealed victory at the 18th hole by securing a birdie to make sure of victory

For Pickard, it was a case of being patient as he finished third in this qualifying event last year and fourth 12 months earlier.

Beard and Pickard will now play in the £22,000 final, in association with Golfplan, which takes place between November 6-7 at Arabella Golf Mallorca.

“It was a very good day but also a very unexpected one,” said the 45-year-old Honiton captain who has been a member there for the past eight years.

“We started well, fell away on eight and nine where we made bogeys, but followed that up with five birdies on the bounce. Thankfully, I holed a putt at the 18th to give us the final three points which turned out to be crucial.

“Our captain last year had 43 points when coming third with James, and he phoned me the night before to remind me that was the benchmark.

“So I was pleased to message him with a photo of the final scoreboard. We knew we were doing okay, so it was a case of where we could get to. The weather was amazing and it couldn’t have gone better.”

Pickard admitted that Bowood is one of his favourite courses. Not only has he produced consistent performances there in this event, it was also the scene of his PGA Professional Championship qualifying round victory in 2014 when he was a first year Professional.

“We rallied on the back nine, but I absolutely love this place, I’ve played the course quite a bit and I really enjoy it,” said Pickard.

“I was reasonably confident, but I haven’t played for a couple of months, I wanted to compete and to win was a bonus.

“I’ve been playing cricket the past couple of months, while working as a Teaching Professional at Honiton. We have a one-year-old now as well, so I’ve been baby sitting full time!

“But going to Mallorca will be brilliant, it’s a lovely feeling to win a qualifier like this.”

SkyCaddie PGA Pro-Captain Challenge - West Qualifier

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Bowood Golf & Country Club

POS      SCORE       PRO/CAPTAIN                               REPRESENTING
Q1        45pts          James Pickard/Richard Beard           Honiton Golf Club
2          42pts          Martyn Thompson/John Warner        Parkstone Golf Club
3          40pts          Martin Stimson/Simon Gravelle        Ashburnham Golf Club
4          39pts          Andrew March/Mike Carter               Brean Golf Club
                              Barry Austin/Nick Murch Downes      Crediton
                              Gethin Collins/Stephen Sleeman      Fairwood Park
                              Rodney Holt/Matt Bishop                 Silverstone Golf Club

Full results from the event at Bowood can be found here.

For further information on the Skycaddie Pro Captain Challenge, click here.