Five Kings of the Castle

Leeds Castle’s own Steve Purves headed a five way tie to share a one-under-par victory over nine holes in the Leeds Castle Pro-Am, supported by Arkas.

Battered by strong winds around the nine hole course, Purves and his PGA colleagues Simon Wood (Ridge), James Jones (Tonbridge Golf Centre), Mark Brailey (Shirley Park) and James McGilvray (Birchwood Park) all negotiated their way to cards of one-under 33.

PGA Head Professional and Golf Manager Purves commented: “This Pro-Am, the fourth we’ve held, is a great way to showcase not only our cracking nine hole course, but to reinforce what is clearly the growing trend in golf: playing nine holes, especially on nine hole courses that are challenging for any level of player. I’d like to thank Arkas for their invaluable support for this year’s Pro-Am, and we’re all looking forward to 2018’s event!”

He continued: “We’ve made a number of major improvements over the past four years with new tees, a new irrigation system and constant improvement of the playing surfaces. These investments are all paying off handsomely in terms of the calibre of the course and the quality of the golfing experience Leeds Castle now offers.”

While the challenge set by Leeds Castle’s nine holes was doubtless compounded by the very strong winds, birdies proved hard to make. McGilvray, Brailey and Purves each managed two birdies along with one bogey on their respective nines, while Jones and Wood had one birdie each in their flawless rounds.

The team event comprising one PGA Professional and one amateur partner was also tied, this time between three pairs all on four-under-par: leading their amateur partners to victory were Sittingbourne’s Peter Appleyard, Brailey and that man Purves again, whose wins took the local hero to a well deserved pole position for the day.