East Renfrewshire captain and pro in tune at The Belfry
24/06/2021
East Renfrewshire duo Gavin Hay and Bill Garety held their nerve where more experienced players have folded, especially members of visiting Ryder Cup teams, to win the SkyCaddie PGA Pro-Captain Challenge at The Belfry.
Their victory in the 36-hole tournament supported by Prostate Cancer UK follows compatriot Paul O'Hara's double triumph in winning the PGA Professional Championships and PGA Play-Offs at Blairgowrie less than a week earlier. But it was a close-run thing for the Scottish pair.
Their tally of 82 Stableford points after a circuit of the PGA National course at the famous venue and then the Brabazon was just one more than the amount accumulated by the quartet of teams hot on their heels.
One of those was the winner’s playing partners, Surrey Downs Golf Club whose PGA pro, Craig Cowper, was a member of the duo that won the popular competition at Argentario, Italy in 2019.
“We knew we were nip and tuck with Craig and Wally (O’Rourke) going down the last but we were not aware of what anyone else had done,” said Hay, the East Renfrewshire PGA pro.
Pars for both teams at that juncture would have necessitated a play-off but Surrey Downs found the water at the iconic hole and recorded a bogey
There were no wobbles from the Scots, by contrast, and Hay added: “It was good to finish with a par. It was very bunched up and over the two days it was very close.
“We had a single one-pointer out there and managed to get a par or a nett par on the majority of holes, which is probably key.”
What was not key, however, was a familiarity with each other’s games or, apart from one instance, Hay coaching his 16-handicap sidekick.
“We’d only played together twice before so we were pretty fresh as to how each other played,” said Garety.
“As for coaching - I had a chipping lesson from Gavin yesterday afternoon. He wasn’t too impressed with the way I chipped the ball on to the green.
“I think it was more sliced or thinned than chipped! We had a quick lesson and it proved its worth on one particular hole today.”
In addition to the crash course in chipping, the pair agreed the SkyCaddie they, along with all the competitors, were issued with proved invaluable.
“The SkyCaddie was very useful,” Garety added. “It helped me check what the distances were and where the hazards were. That was a great help.”
“The course has a lot of well-placed bunkers so knowing where they were and the distances was a big help,” concurred Hay who, as well as earning £5,000 for the victory will, like his partner, be given the latest SkyCaddie model, an SX550, when they are released in a fortnight’s time.
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