Broadstone duo have silverware in sight

Broadstone Golf Club’s Neil Rowland (above) is used to rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in British sport.

The Dorset course is a favourite with the likes of football managers and pundits such as Harry Redknapp, Tony Pulis and Graeme Souness.

But he is now chasing some silverware of his own alongside playing partner and Broadstone assistant Adrian Harris in next month’s Golfbreaks.com PGA Fourball Championship.

They will team up for the £28,750 BMW-supported final which will be held at Forest Pines Hotel and Golf Club in Lincolnshire on October 2-4, and Rowland insists that while Broadstone may be a magnet for high profile personalities - Howard Donald from Take That has also played there - the club are refusing to stand still.

“We’re working with golf course designer Frank Pont at the moment,” he said.

“At the moment we’re redesigning the bunkers along the lines of the original Harry Colt version. We’re taking the course back to the future if you like.

“Our general manager David Morgan is keen to keep us in the top 100 courses and this is all part of it.

“The membership here is strong, but we want to keep moving forwards in terms of what we can offer.”

Rowland made it to the PGA Pro-Captain Challenge final in Turkey last year and finished fifth with club captain John Taylor, but he admits he does not know what to expect from Forest Pines.

“We did okay in Turkey last year, it was good to get to the final and it was a decent result,” he said. It would be nice to carry that on into Forest Pines.

“Adrian’s probably playing more than I am at the moment, but I like this format of golf and we’ll certainly be going for it.

Other teams from the West taking part at Forest Pines include  Christian Vine (Woodbury Park) and Kevin Harper (Sidmouth); Ben Martin (Exeter) and James Pickard (Honiton); and Michael Watson (Wessex Golf Centre) and Martyn Thompson (Parkstone).