Enville pair enjoy home comforts

Enville Golf Club duo Andrew Whitlock, left, and Richard Copsey made home advantage count to win the  Golfplan Insurance PGA Pro Captain Challenge Midlands qualifier.

Captain Whitlock and PGA professional Copsey recorded a 10 under par round of 61 to beat Bloxwich Golf Club’s John Bandurak and Gary Richards by one shot at the Stourbridge course.

But they thought they had ruined their chances of victory when they bogeyed the final hole of the day.

They had done enough however thanks to an impressive front nine which saw them six under par at the turn.

Whitlock, a member at Enville for 22 years, and Copsey will now play in the £25,000 final which takes place at Spanish destination Lumine Mediterranea Beach & Golf Community.

The resort, which features two Greg Norman designs, will stage the event over 36 holes from Wednesday, November 30 - Thursday, December 1.

Whitlock, who plays off a handicap of 11, admitted that he knows the Lodge course at Enville well but that counted for little on the day.

“I play it a lot, but sometimes you can think too much about it when you know the traps, often if you’re at a fresh course you’re not so worried about that,” said the 52-year-old who works in private equity.

“Enville is a brutal course, if you don’t hit it straight you can end up in heather or the trees.

“It was disappointing to finish with a bogey, we honestly thought we’d lost the event.

“But I’d like to give a special mention to the sponsors Golfplan, without them it’d be very difficult to organise these events and the PGA did a great job too.

“I’ve played a lot of golf in Spain as I lived in Majorca for a while and it’ll be great to play on at a venue like that which benefits from the wonderful conditions out there.”

Copsey praised his captain’s performance on day when everything went to plan despite their final hole setback.

“We hadn’t looked like dropping a shot all day,” he said.

“But we combined well, I made six birdies and Andrew made five net birdies. So it was a good day in the end.

“I’ve never been to this final before so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Final leaderboard here.