Burhill Pro-Am Silver Split Four Ways

There was no clear winner in the inaugural Burhill Pro-Am, proudly supported by Silver Key Developments, to take home the £10,000 winner’s cheque on their own. However, Burhill’s own James Winstanley tied on level par with Prince’s Charlie Wilson, Pyecombe’s Mark James and Burgess Hill Golf Academy’s Ryan Fitzgerald, each taking home £3,462.50 for their share of The PGA in England (South) schedule’s largest prize fund to date.

Winstanley was ecstatic, saying: “Of course local knowledge helped and I know the greens well, but Burhill’s New course was in fantastic condition, the weather was amazing, and even though we’ve all had to split the top prize, it’s a terrific result, my first win of the season, and a huge boost to my confidence.”

Of the four, Winstanley had the safest round with two birdies making up for two bogeys. Wilson had four birdies and an eagle, but undid all that good work with four bogeys and a double bogey at the 18^th.

James had two birdies and an eagle, but mixed those with four bogeys to leave him on level par. Fitzgerald was two-under after two holes, and level after thirteen, but a double bogey threatened to take him out of pole position altogether until birdies at the 11^th and 13^th, his final hole, restored him to top spot and a slice of the winning action.

Bradley Feihn’s Burgess Hill team won the team event by a street with -18, their nearest rivals being Sutton Green’s team led by their very own Bernard White with -12.

There was a twist at the end of the day on the 18^th hole of the New Course at Burhill, with all 27 PGA Professionals being invited to take part in the Silver Key Developments’ Nearest the Pin Shootout.

In front of a packed clubhouse terrace, each player was allowed one shot for a chance to win an extra £5,000 courtesy of the sponsor. The first of the 27 attempts from Royal Wimbledon’s Jack Stevenson to 10 feet set the mark, and was good enough to take both the raucous applause from the crowd on his return up the 18^th, but more importantly, the cash!