Brackley notches up another at Prince’s

In the second of two consecutive events at Prince’s, Max Brackley (Manston) overcame the challenging weather conditions to shoot a two-over-par 73 and claim his second victory in the Winter Series with Titleist & FootJoy.

Playing the alternative layout of the Dunes and Himalayas, Brackley’s performance was good enough to claim the winner’s cheque and push the 74 of Steve Purves (Leeds Castle) into second place, closely followed by Mark Palmer (Palmer Golf Company), Callum Haughey (Orpington Golf Centre) and Louis Savill (Tandridge) on 75.

Playing with Palmer, the pair went round in a shade over three hours in conditions that were close to the day before and the course in great shape. But starting with two bogeys and finishing with a double on the 17^th, Brackley was convinced that his score of 73 would soon be surpassed.

That said, Brackley had birdied the third, sixth and seventh to be out in one-under-par, and by driving the par four 13^th he’d notched up another to reach two-under. A missed putt on the 14^th followed by a lost ball on the par five 15^th for a ‘good’ bogey took him back to level par, but a double bogey at the 17^th by driving left into some water took the shine off things, although he buckled down and made a solid par at the 18^th.

As he commented: “I’d played quite well the day before, and my golf on the outward half (Dunes) was fine, but we all seemed to find the Himalayas that much more of a challenge! Despite the score at the 17^th, and the other dropped shots, my score was good enough to win, and as they keep saying on the tour, ‘a win’s a win!’.”

Suitably encouraged by the result, Brackley’s looking forward to the 2015 season and competing in the major Order of Merit events, and will be continuing to practice hard over the next few weeks and months, with an eye on the 2014-2015 Winter Series itself.

With his second victory in the Winter Series with Titleist & FootJoy, Brackley’s now lying in second place close behind Scott Stevens (Staplehurst), opening up the possibility of an exciting conclusion to the Series with just three events remaining at The Berkshire on February 18th, The London on March 2nd, and the finale at Swinley Forest on April 2nd.