Early birds Saunton get a flier at Royal North Devon

From left to right: Phil Waterton with Albert MacKenzie.

Albert MacKenzie kept up that winning feeling as he and amateur player Phil Waterton took Saunton Golf Club to the final of the Lombard Trophy in Portugal.

MacKenzie captained the Great Britain & Ireland to victory over the USA in the PGA Cup last year.

And he and Waterton will now represent their club in the National Pro-Am Final in the Algarve after topping the leaderboard at the West qualifying event held at neighbouring Royal North Devon Golf Club.

MacKenzie also clinched what will be his third appearance in the final.

The Saunton pairing were first out at 7.30 am and they set the standard for the day after carding a nine under par round of 63.

That earned them a comfortable victory by three shots ahead of host club duo Michael Wilson and Mark Lee and Trevose Golf & Country Club’s Gary Lenaghan and Jack Longley.

MacKenzie and Waterton head to the £41,450, Coca-Cola and Pestana Resorts supported, National Pro-Am grand final which will be played at the Vila Sol resort between September 20-21.

“We started early so we could see some juicy worms along the way, it was lovely really,” said MacKenzie.

“It was a great team effort and I’m so pleased we’re going to the grand final in Portugal.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to play it in 2013 and 2016. It’s great to make it a hat-trick of events, I really enjoyed the first two.

“At Royal North Devon, you know the last five holes are never going to yield that much. We had four successive birdies from the 10th hole to the 13th and then we had pars on the way in which consolidated our good early work. We were thrilled with nine under par and we thought it’d be difficult to beat.

“Saunton’s Emerton Court team came over and managed to beat Royal North Devon last week so it was nice to follow that up and finish on top as well.”

Waterton had played with MacKenzie at a previous Lombard Trophy qualifier where nerves had got the better of the local property developer.

But there were no such problems this time for the 36-year-old 11-handicapper.

“It was a lot better for me this time and a really enjoyable day,” said Waterton, who recovered from a disclocated finger in time for the event.

“Early in the day, the sun was shining and the winds were light. I was very upbeat. By the time we got to the 18th hole we said we needed to at least par it and then what happens will happen.

“I was a bit tense for the rest of the day but Albert looked a lot more relaxed than I was!”