Darren and Jeff blitz rivals to seal Spanish place

Barlaston Golf Club produced a dream round to reach the final of the SkyCaddie PGA Pro-Captain Challenge final in Spain.

The Staffordshire club’s captain Jeff Goodwin and PGA Professional Darren Martin carded a dominant round to total 49 points at Coxmoor Golf Club in Nottinghamshire.

They finished two points ahead of the host club’s pairing of Phil Edwards and Gren Patman.

Martin and Goodwin posted a round of 13 under par which always looked like being a winning score.

They will now play in the £22,000 final, in association with Golfplan, which takes place between November 6-7 at Arabella Golf Mallorca.

And the Stoke-on-Trent based, 11 handicapper, Goodwin admitted they went into the event with few expectations.

“Everything seemed to go right, the course was absolutely fantastic,” said the 57-year-old retired joiner.

“I’ve been a member at Barlaston for about 10 years after having a break, I got the bug back again, I was a footballer until I was 42, but now I can’t get enough of golf.

“I’m really enjoying the captaincy and things are going well at the moment.

“I can’t wait to go to Spain, that’ll be a great experience.”

It will be Martin’s second final of the year after getting through to the PGA Fourball Championship at Belton Woods Golf Club.

But he has never made it to a PGA final held abroad.

“It was a very good day and the first time I’d played this course,” he said.

“We had a couple of eagles at the 11th and 13th holes which got us going at just the right time.

“I don’t actually play that much, but when me and Jeff play we usually do well and it’s a good partnership.

“We came here with no expectations but we played well.

“I don’t know where that round came from but we’re friends and get on, we covered each other’s back and built some momentum.

“This is the first time I’ve made it to a PGA final abroad so it’ll be good end of season occasion for us.”

SkyCaddie PGA Pro-Captain Challenge - Midlands B Qualifier
Coxmoor Golf Club, Thursday, September 13, 2018

POS           SCORE                    PRO/CAPTAIN REPRESENTING
Q1             49pts                      Darren Martin/Jeff Goodwin Barlaston Golf Club
2               47pts                      Phil Edwards/Gren Patman Coxmoor Golf Club
3               46pts                      Dan Greenwood/Ricky Maxfield Forest Pines Golf Club
                                               Greg Rogula/John Pennington Leek Golf Club
                                               Tim Rouse/Leigh Moss Northants County