Gleneagles glory for Channels
02/09/2015
Essex thoroughbred Jason Levermore and his trusty Steed were first past the post in the chase for the Lombard Trophy at Gleneagles.
But it was a close run thing for Levermore and his amateur partner Ben Steed from Channels Golf Club, Essex, as Nottinghamshire’s Bulwell Forest duo of Andrew Willey and Mick Disney kept the outcome in doubt until the final hole.
In the end just two strokes separated them after two rounds over the Jack Nicklaus-designed PGA Centenary Course at the Scottish resort.
Level at the start of the second round on seven-under, parity remained until Levermore and Steed moved up a gear midway through the back nine.
Birdies at the 14th and 15th – the hole where Jamie Donaldson sent his approach to within a foot of the pin to clinch victory in last year’s Ryder Cup – followed by an eagle at 16 proved decisive as they posted a second successive seven-under-par round of 65 to finish 14-under for the week.
It gave the Essex men a three stroke lead but Willey, a former European Tour player, and Disney, who plays off plus one, refused to be cowed.
They responded with a birdie at the 17th to reduce the deficit to two but Levermore and Steed kept their collective cool to par the last and claim the reward for winning Europe’s largest pro-am, a £12,000 cheque.
“I kind of always knew it would be a battle with Jason and, with no disrespect to the others I thought we’d be up there,” said Willey, who was consoled by a cheque for £7,500.
“It was nice to play with Jason as we’re good mates and we knew it would be a good battle.
“We’ve had a good week and played well. But credit to them as they played well and didn’t make any mistakes.”
Willey and Disney (above left and right) are regular partners, not so Levermore and Steed.
“We hadn’t played together before this year,” said Levermore. “This is only the second time we’ve played together. The first time was in the qualifier at Kings Lynn.
“We haven’t had time to have any practice either. We just rocked up and got on with it. Obviously it hasn’t done us any harm - we helped each other all the way round and gelled really well.”
The win for Levermore booked yet another spot on The PGA honours boards: previously he has won the Association’s Fourball Championship twice and also the Pro Captain Challenge. Furthermore, this was the third successive year he has been party to victory in one of The PGA’s national tournaments.
By contrast, Steed, whom plays off 14, is a relative newcomer to golf.
“I’ve only been playing for four years and for this to happen to me after such a short time playing the game is amazing,” he said.
“It’s an experience I’ll never forget and probably something I’ll never top. Perhaps I should retire now.”
Levermore, meanwhile, has this month’s PGA Cup in California on his mind and added: “Hopefully this victory will stand me in good stead for that. We had to cope with a lot of pressure here and I expect a lot of the same in the PGA Cup.”
