Gane’s Ton up at Nevill

Chris Gane (Lefthandedgolf@Silvermere) added even more lustre to his stunning year when he shot a six-under-par 65 to win the Nevill Centenary Pro-Am. His flawless round outshone the 66 of the European Tour’s Oliver Fisher and the 68 of local man Jamie Harris, earning Gane a handy £1,000 into the bargain.

In his first visit to the course, Gane notched up six birdies, although Fisher made seven but two bogeys left him the runner up on this occasion.

Gane said: “After a good performance and fourth place in the Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship at Blairgowrie, the rest of August was fairly quiet, so it was terrific to be invited to play in the Nevill Centenary and help them celebrate which turned out to be a cracking round of golf.”

As the event was in celebration of Nevill’s Centenary, there were several other famous names that came along to help celebrate, notably current European Tour player Richard Bland who successfully raided the Stoneham Pro-Am a few weeks ago and shot 70, Peter Mitchell (Vidauban), and former European Tour winners Tony Johnstone from South Africa and Nevill’s very own Jamie Spence.

Heading up the Nevill Ladies’ teams were the Ladies European Tour players Becky Brewerton and Trish Johnson, fresh from her victory at the Aberdeen Ladies Scottish Open the day before.

Starting at the 10th, Gane went straight into top gear with birdies at his first two holes for a fast start. One more at the 13th meant he turned in three-under-par, and then two more came along at the second and third holes to put him on five-under.   One last hurrah for a birdie at the seventh put Gane in front of Fisher, and the satisfaction of being handed the £1,000 winner’s cheque.

He said: “The course was in great condition, and although it was my first time playing here I had the pleasure of playing with the club’s general manager Frank Prescott who kindly guided me around what proved to be a pretty tight course!”

Gane continued, “Winning here in a year like the one I’m having, and amongst some really talented players from The PGA and the European Tour past and present, was a great experience. It’s one that’ll stick with me for a long, long time, so with the PGA Southern Professionals next week, here’s hoping I can maintain this form and push for a good placing.”