Dixon sweeps birdie pot at Woodbury Park

Birdie king David Dixon won the unique Stripe Masters Shoot-out Pro-Am at Woodbury Park by making an eagle, worth three points, and five birdies.

The fresh format rewarded PGA Professionals for holes where they made birdies and eagles with a share of the “birdie bonus pool” of £4200. The event was one of the richest pro-am’s of the season with a total of over £8800 on offer.

Dixon’s killer hole was the 329-yard par-four 13th where he holed his second shot for an eagle two to leap ahead of Giuseppe Licata (Bristol Golf Centre) and Grant Slater (Trevose) who both made seven birdies.

There were only three other eagles from Chris Gill (Newquay) and Steve Buzza (Clifton Hill) at the ninth and Andrew March (Brean) at the 14th.

Dixon (Enmore Park), who dominated the early-season PGA in England and Wales (South West) schedule, said: “It really was a fun tournament at a quality pro-am enjoyed by everyone who took part. It was the first time I had played in this format.

“It was tricky to get the right strategy as you couldn’t always commit yourself to going for birdies or eagles as you had to consider the score of your team playing partners.”

Mike Searle (Woodbury Park) led his team from CAP Celings and Partitions of Kev Smith, Gary Rice and Toby Pool to 15-under-par 129.

They beat another CAP Ceilings & Partitions-sponsored team of Licata, Daryn Hunt, Stuart O'Higgins and Aston Mills by one shot with Dixon’s Total Triumph Taunton trio of Paul Spackman, Lee Ayres and Neil Mossman third on countback.

The day’s events went well on into the evening with a mix of live entrainment and a trick golf show from Paul Barrington.