Betchworth delayed but deluges defeated

Despite two rain delays and conditions that were far from ideal, four southern stars shot rounds of one-under-par 68 to share the honours at the Betchworth Park Pro-Am.

Being his first of his UK season, for Nico Els (Professional Golf Tuition Breaks - pictured above) it was a win to savour, while Chris Gane (LeftHandedGolf@Silvermere) and David Copsey (DCGS Poult Wood) each made the event their fourth win of the year, and Michael Lowe (Leatherhead) his second.

In the runners up position on even par were Chris Rodgers (Richings Park), Jonathan Ingram (Royal Ashdown) and four time Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit winner Richard Wallis (Canterbury).

Of the four, Lowe reached the turn in level par and did well to recover from a double bogey start to his back nine, reeling off three more birdies to claim a place on the winner’s podium. Gane was two-under after ten holes, but stumbled at the 13th and the 14th with bogeys. A terrific birdie on the 18th followed by two solid pars left him safe and sound on 68.

Copsey, fresh from an earlier victory at the Redhill & Reigate Pro-Am, started on the fourth, reached the turn in level par and then made two birdies and two bogeys over the back nine. Looking for one more birdie, he deuced the second, his 17th, to join his colleagues on the podium.

Els acknowledged that after an initial hour and 30 minutes delay due to flooded greens, the PGA and Betchworth Park teams did very well just to get the whole event started.  The 36 teams were eventually able to have a great day’s golf, despite the weather, with the last putts dropping just after 9.30pm following a further 2 hours delay in the afternoon.

“The groups that started in the morning definitely had the advantage,” he said, “as we had the drier weather with some rain on our last two holes, whereas the afternoon teams had non-stop rain and at least one more long delay in the middle of their round.”

Els was delighted with his form, commenting, “I spent the winter over back in South Africa, and so my UK season’s only just getting going. Betchworth Park’s always a tough one, with difficult pin positions, so I was very pleased that my game held together and some par saving putts dropped.”

Summarising, he said, “Winning here, even if it’s a tie between the four of us, is a great boost for my game. I’m practicing hard on the right aspects, and I’ve now got a pretty busy schedule of events ahead of me, so this result was just the ticket.”