Dixon wins the Marstons PGA West Region Championship

13/08/2020

David Dixon created a golfing cocktail of consistency and perfect-timing to win the Marstons PGA West Region Championship at Mendip Spring and add his name to the list of distinguished champions for the second time.

Peter Alliss, Bernard Hunt and Harry Weetman all won the tournament at least twice and, in reprising his success of 2014, the former European Tour player was one of just two players to break par in both rounds.

Having negotiated the Brinsea course at the Somerset club in three-under-par on day one, the Enmore Park pro followed up with a five-under-par return of 66 to claim the £1,600 first prize.

Four of the 43-year-old’s six birdies in the second round were recorded in five holes on the back nine and proved crucial in repelling the challenge of Paul Hendriksen, another former champion.

Hendriksen, who is attached to Ivybridge Golf Club and won this tournament in 2018, looked well out of contention after ending day one on two-over.

However, he made amends in fine style. His six-under-par round of 65 broke the course record but still left him three shots shy of Dixon and sharing second place with Machynys Peninsula Golf and Country Club’s James Frazer.

Reflecting on his performance in what was his first competitive outing for five months because of the coronavirus pandemic, Dixon said: “It’s been massively frustrating not being able to play.

“It feels as though we’ve been indoors forever so to be back out playing again is great.

“I played a couple of times on the Clutch Tour and a charity pro-am after the restrictions were lifted but this is the first two-day event I’ve played. I prefer these to one-day shoot-outs.

“I didn’t know what to expect after effectively having five months off so I’m pleased how today’s gone, especially in this heat.

“I managed to keep it steady and nurdle it round. I played some good shots in the middle and it was a bit scrappy at the end but that was just a lack of tournament golf. There were no dramas so that’s all you can ask for really.”

As for a lack of dramas, that was a case of what might have been, especially for Frazer and Sion Bebb, the other player to break par in both rounds.

Frazer, who began the day sharing the lead on three-under and won the prize for being the highest-placed PGA Assistant, signed off with an eagle and a birdie. But that final flourish came too late for him to trouble Dixon.

Morlais Castle’s Bebb, by contrast, looked set to pose a real threat to the eventual winner when he birdied 10 and 11 to go five-under.

However, a quintuple-bogey at the par-five 13^th sabotaged his challenge for the title but birdies at 15 and 18 ensured he and Wessex Golf Centre’s Michael Watson finished as the tournament’s leading Seniors on two-under.

Meanwhile the Vale’s Georgia Lewis deposed the host club’s Katie Rule as the PGA West Women’s Champion thanks to a two-round return of seven-over.

Full scores can be accessed here