Edwards chalks up maiden victory

Gareth Edwards shot a two-under-par 70 to win the Windlesham Pro-Am, edging out two of the region’s top performers to claim his first regional victory.

The Leaderboard Golf Centre pro’s solid performance with four birdies and just two dropped shots on a particularly windy day earned him the winner’s cheque of £600, while the scores of Jamie Harris (Nevill) and Guy Woodman (East Berks) reflected the challenging conditions.

Harris made five birdies, four of them on the back nine, but five bogeys meant a one-under-par 71, while Woodman made four birdies and three bogeys for his 71.

With good results in two BB&O PGA Pro-Ams the week before, Edwards felt he was enjoying some good form.

He commented: “I shot good scores at Bearwood Lakes and Henley last week, and I’m playing pretty steadily at the moment. I used to be a member at Windlesham some 15 years ago, so although it’s changed a bit, I’m familiar with the course which helped as well.”                                                       

Starting at the 16^th in a shotgun start, Edwards dropped a shot at his opening hole, but repaired the damage with a birdie two holes later after needing just a driver and a nine iron at the par five 18th. 

“The wind was gusting between two and three clubs,” Edwards said, “which helped on holes like the 18^th, but made things quite a bit more challenging elsewhere.”

“The birdie on my third hole got me back into the right frame of mind. I played steadily from tee to green hitting 15 greens in regulation, and 33 putts shows it was the rest of my game that really made the score!”

As a former member Edwards was impressed with the impact of the recent investments in the course.

He explained: “Windlesham was in fantastic condition. All the playing surfaces, from tee to green, were in really great shape, and the whole day was very well run and organised.”

Boosted by his latest victory, Edwards is looking forward to the next Virgin Atlantic Order of Merit event, the PGA Kent Open Championship supported by C+K Group at Prince’s on the 14^th and 15^th of August.