Fitzgerald First at Farnham

Burgess Hill’s Ryan Fitzgerald, the current PGA South Assistants & Trainees champion, shot a flawless five-under-par 67 around Farnham to win Titleist & FootJoy A&T BetterBall Pro-Am by two strokes and notch up his first victory of 2017.

The event marks the finale of the 2016-2017 Titleist & FootJoy PGA South Winter Series, and the third time the Battle Bowl has been fought for by the region’s PGA Assistants and Trainees. As the leading Assistant, Fitzgerald walked away with both the winner’s cheque for £444 and a valuable Titleist & FootJoy ball, glove and shoe contract as well.

Thanks to a last hole eagle, Adam Wootton, the 2016 Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit champion from Oxford Golf Centre, carded a three-under-par 69 to claim second place and a cheque for £301, edging Charlie Beadell’s round of 70 into third for £250.

After a nip and tuck battle over the past six months, Calcot Park’s Alex Lodge is the overall winner of the 2016-2017 Titleist & FootJoy PGA South Winter Series. His one-over 73 earned just enough points to snatch the Battle Bowl and courtesy of the sponsors and PGA Partners, a £250 cash bonus, a Custom Fit Titleist 917 Driver and a custom pair of FootJoy MyJoy golf shoes.

PGA Regional Secretary, Sam Smith, said, “Thanks once again to the great support we’ve enjoyed from Titleist & FootJoy, our 2016-2017 Winter Series has been another massive success. Our members have again been privileged to play at some of the region’s finest courses, and this year has seen record entries, which I hope augers well for the rest of the season.”

Summarising, he said: “Congratulations to Alex on winning the Battle Bowl, and to all the other winners over the past six months. I’ve no doubt we’ll see some of these players at the top of the leaderboards during 2017.”