Dixon’s Euro Tour bid continues

Former European Tour winner David Dixon is again in top form and determined to finish the season on a high note before he attempts to regain his European Tour status.

The Enmore Park touring player, who has qualified for the Great Britain & Ireland PGA Cup team to play the United States in California next month, defends the 36-hole Marston’s West Region PGA Championship at Chipping Sodbury next week.

But the 38-year-old Somerset man, who won at The Players Club last season, holds a burning ambition to step back onto the big stage.

“Everything I have done this season has been geared towards winning back my Tour card,” said the winner of several mini-tour and regional events this summer.

But he realises a repeat championship win will not be easy with PGA Cup team-mates Paul Hendriksen (Ivybridge) and Michael Watson (Wessex Golf Centre) among his rivals.

“There are so many good players in the South West and a good number are capable of winning the title,” he said.

Order of Merit leader Lee Thompson (Dudsbury), Hendriksen and Adam Frayne (Yelverton – this season’s Order of Merit tournament winners – are grouped together in the opening round in the penultimate PGA of England and Wales (South West) Order of Merit event.

As the battle for a place in the PGA Play-Offs in Turkey heats up, and will be resolved after the fifth and final event at Royal North Devon in October, the region is likely to be represented by four players as Hendriksen has already qualified as the Titleist & FootJoy PGA champion.

But a number of players will be in contention on Tuesday and Wednesday August 18-19 following Monday’s pro-am, not least last year’s runner-up and Order of Merit winner Watson who regained his form in winning recently at Salisbury.

Other strong candidates include prolific winners Richard O'Hanlon (St Kew), former PGA champion Scott Drummond from Plymouth and Liam Bond (Marriott St Pierre). Stuart Little (Minchinhampton), who has played more than 300 European Tour events, bids to win the famous Lidgerwood Trophy for the fourth time in three decades.

James Ruth (China Fleet), the 2013 champion, is another player firing on all cylinders while Welshmen Stephen Dodd, the former European Open champion and winner in 1991, Cennydd Mills (Pyle and Kenfig), Matthew Dearden (Llantrisant & Pontyclun), Sion Bebb (Morlais Castle) and Richard Dinsdale (Asbri Golf) can never be discounted.

Other winners since 1920 read like a who's who of West Country golf stars. They include former Open champions Reg Whitcombe, Max Faulkner and Alf Perry as well as 14 Ryder Cup players, among them Peter Alliss, Bernard Hunt, Gordon Brand Jnr and Phillip Price.

Another incentive next week is the chance to win a place in the £10,000 M J Baker Pro-am at Woodbury Park in October. The leading 16 players in the OOM after next week’s championship, plus the Assistants’ champion, qualify.

Tracy Loveys (Bigbury), who became the first-ever Women’s champion last year, faces stiff competition from West newcomers and playing partners Chloe Rogers (Celtic Manor) and Rachel Lewis (Vale Hotel).

Toby Hunt (St Mellons) also meets stiff opposition as he defends the Assistants’ Championship. Kelvin Aitken (Chippenham Golf Centre), who took the Seniors’ title last year, will be challenged by European Seniors’ Tour players Gary Emerson (Remedy Oak) and Kevin Spurgeon (Ferndown) in his first appearance of the season.