Elliott wins East Anglian Championship

Crue Elliott followed in the footsteps of famous golfing names such as Ian Poulter and Brian Huggett by winning the PGA East Anglian Championship at The Rayleigh Club.

Twenty-nine year old Elliott had rounds of 69 and 68 to finish nine-under-par for the tournament beating joint runners-up Ian Ellis of Costessey Park in Norfolk and Paul Hetherington of Great Hadham Golf and Country Club by two shots.

Elliott, who is in his fifth year as a teaching professional at Sandy Lodge Golf Club in Hertfordshire, had a stroke of bad fortune on his first hole when his approach shot ended in deep rough to the right of the green. He took a penalty drop but still secured par.

His tremendous putting brought him seven birdies. He ended his round in spectacular fashion by holing for a birdie from the back fringe of the 18^th green in front of a large gallery.

Elliott said: “I holed birdie putts at the right time and was striking the ball well. I never felt flustered and managed to keep the momentum going. I dropped a couple of shots on the back nine but managed to hit back.

“My golf has been taking a back seat recently because I have been running the junior academy at Sandy Lodge which has been going really well.”

Ellis had six birdies in his last 11 holes including a flying finish with birdies at his final three holes to leapfrog over Nick Pateman of Pinner Hill and claim third place in the East Order of Merit and a spot in the Titleist PGA play-offs in Turkey. Pateman had a battling second round of two-under-par but it was not quite enough to make up for a disappointing 74 on the first day.

Hetherington hoisted himself up the Order of Merit table from 35^th place with a second round that included seven birdies.

Jason Levermore took fourth place at six under par for the tournament. He started his second round with a double at the first but ended with five birdies including two in his final three holes. He ended runner-up in the Order of Merit despite missing the first of the six events at Royal Cromer in May.

Mark Hooper of Rayleigh Golf Range was already assured of being East Order of Merit winner before this final event. He finished joint 10^th at three under par.

For a long time former PGA European Tour star Mark Davis of Thorndon Park was a strong challenger to become PGA East Anglian champion. He was seven-under-par for the tournament after 10 holes but a dropped shot at the 12^th and a double after finding water at the 16^th ended his chances.

Two golfers recovered from poor first rounds to have unblemished second round scores. Clacton assistant Sam Teer had two birdies and Joshua Johnson, an assistant at Bishop’s Stortford, had one birdie. It was also a memorable tournament for Michael Grace of John O’Gaunt who had a hole in one at the 121-yard fifth on the first day.