Ex-Premier League ace among first stage qualifiers.

Ex-Hull City midfielder Jimmy Bullard was among those progressing from the first stage of HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour Qualifying School yesterday.

Bullard and 172 others qualifiers will join the 67 exempt players at Final Stage, to be played at Frilford Heath Golf Club in Oxfordshire next week.

Six UK courses hosted 36-hole first stage events, with five of the venues requiring play-offs to determine the final qualifiers.

Bullard (The Wisley) was among those to come through at Chart Hills Golf Club - one of six players who came through an eight-man play-off having finished the tournament four-over-par for their 36 holes.

James Steven (Clydeway Golf) was the winner at Haggs Castle, where 23 players progressed without the need for a play-off. He carded a second-round 65 to finish nine under after a two-under-par 70 for his opening round.

At Caversham Heath in Reading, Sam Whitehead (Woburn Golf Club; 65, 70) won the tournament with a score of 11 under. William Symons took the final of 29 qualifying spots after birding the first hole of the three-man sudden-death play-off.

Six under par was the winning score for Nick Marsh (Huddersfield Golf Club; 69, 69) at Mottram Hall, where nine players had to contest a play-off for the final eight of 36 qualifying spots.

At Burhill Golf Club, Luke Johnson (King’s Lynn Golf Club) shot a second-round 65, seven under par, to win the tournament on seven under. Five players contested the play-off for three spots at Final Stage, to which 36 players progressed from Burhill.

Sam Day and Sam Edwards (Bigbury Golf Club) shared the honours at The Players Club, topping the leaderboard on level par. Seven players contested the play-off for the remaining two of 22 qualifying spots.

Final Stage Qualifying School takes place at Frilford Heath Golf Club in Oxfordshire, where 240 players will play one round on each the Red and Blue Courses over Wednesday, April 6 and Thursday, April 7 before a cut to the leading 80 players and ties play a concluding 18 holes on the Blue Course on Friday, April 8.

Players are competing to earn the highest possible category on the 2016 HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour. All those progressing to Final Stage will earn at least a category 14, with golfers making the Final Stage cut earning a minimum category 10 and the top 30 earning category 3.

A full list of exemption categories can be found at www.europrotour.com/about/categories.