Coles wins play-off at Ingrebourne

Rob Coles (Maylands Golf & Country Club) clinched a battling victory at Ingrebourne Links when he beat James Ruebotham (Welwyn Garden City) at the first play-off hole.

Both players finished regulation play at level par on a day when gusting winds made the Essex course a real test for the field.

They returned to the par-4 first hole, which was playing downwind. With Ruebotham just missing the fairway on the left side, Coles raised the pressure by fizzing in a 162-yard wedge to 18 feet.

Ruebotham was unable to find the green with his approach and eventually Coles just needed to two-putt to secure his first Order of Merit win since September 2017.

The former European Tour professional coolly rolled his first putt to within inches of the hole before sealing the success.

Coles, 46, said: “I’m delighted to win because I haven’t really played my best the last few weeks, months. Anytime you win an Order of Merit event is great.

“I hit a couple of really good shots, which haven’t been there recently, so I was pleased with that. Then I just hung on at the end, which was equally pleasing when you’ve been struggling.

“It was a challenging day, but it’s a great course and it had its teeth out. So it was a challenge and I suppose sometimes when you have to get a bit gritty it’s quite nice – you can get into it. So I enjoyed that – it was great.”

Rob Coles, flanked by (left) Dominic Eagle (Ingrebourne Links general manager) and John Pryor (Ingrebourne Links chairman).

Coles, who fired three birdies in his round of 72, will be hoping for a third overall Order of Merit triumph after finishing top of the pile in 2016 and 2017.

But he also has other things on his mind with a second PGA Cup appearance for Great Britain and Ireland drawing closer.

Coles, who finished top points scorer in GB and I’s win at Foxhills two years, will be a key member of the team that will bid to defend the PGA Cup in Austin, Texas at the end of September.

Coles added: “I need to do a lot of hard work before and I know that. I’m having a short break now and when I come back I’ve got to get my head down.”

Runner-up Ruebotham had mixed feelings after coming so close to a first Order of Merit win.

He said: “Earlier on my short game kept me going, so I guess I was pretty happy to get in a play-off.

“I was a bit disappointed bogeying that first extra hole. I didn’t think I hit a bad tee-shot, actually – it was just a touch too far left, but congratulations to Rob.”   

Third place went to last year’s overall Order of Merit winner Jason Levermore (Little Channels Golf Centre), while Daniel Gibbs (Ingrebourne Links Golf Complex) put up a strong performance on home soil to finish fourth.