Brackley overwhelms Prince’s

Manston Golf Centre’s Max Brackley shot a stunning seven-under par 65 at Prince’s to win the RIP It For Derek Memorial Pro-Am by two shots in the face of some class opposition.

The event was played over the Shore-Dunes layout at Prince’s and is held to celebrate the memory of the late Derek Barbour, Prince’s PGA Head Professional from 1998 to 2006.

Starting at the 18^th in a shotgun start, Brackley was soon heading into red figures, notching up a string of birdies through the third, fourth and fifth. He then added an eagle at the seventh and another birdie at the ninth to reach six-under-par for 10 holes.

Out of the blue, he then dropped two shots at the 10^th, but Brackley recovered with a birdie on the 12^th and another eagle on the 15^th.

With two more pars he finished on 65 to claim the title off Pentland Golf’s Benn Barham whose impressive card of five-under-par still left him trailing by two.

Grouped on three-under were Andy Raitt (St George’s Hill), James Ablett (Lee-on-the-Solent), Mark James (Pyecombe), and Guy Woodman (ProAgenda.com).

Despite all this impressive firepower, it was Quin Direct’s Kyle Kelsall who led his three amateurs to victory in the team event with a total of 18-under par, and as the top team, they each walked away with a GoKart Trolley, courtesy of Sandy Catford from the Kent-based electric trolley firm.

PGA Professional and Director of Golf at Prince’s, Rob McGuirk was delighted with yet another huge show of support from the 26 teams that took part in the event.

He said: "This is always a special day in The PGA in England (South)’s schedule, as Derek was one of us and passed away tragically young.

"I’d like to say another very big thank you to the players, our supporters, to the club and to The PGA who have this day such a great success, and we are looking forward to hosting the PGA Kent Open Championship again over the next few days."

For a full list of scores from the RIP It For Derek Memorial Pro-Am click here.