Goodwood duo make club history to reach Lombard final

Carpenter James Woodman nailed a place at Gleneagles when he qualified for The Lombard Trophy final.

Woodman (pictured on right) teamed up with PGA Professional Christian Fogden as the home pairing made full use of their local knowledge to win the regional qualifier at Golf at Goodwood.

The pair dominated after carding a commanding nine-under-par round of 62 to win by four shots at the Chichester venue.

They beat Gareth Williams and Graham Attridge (Donnington Grove Country Club) and Anthony Tarchetti and Julian Gilmore (Prince's) into second spot.

The Goodwood duo will now play in the £43,600 grand final which will be held at Gleneagles in Scotland - the venue for next year’s Ryder Cup - on September 3-4.

And Woodman, who plays off a handicap of seven, admitted it was a proud moment for Golf at Goodwood which was formed seven years ago as an amalgamation of two previous clubs.

Woodman, aged 32, said:  “This club has never made it to a final like this before - and it’s the first time we’ve entered.

“It’s special for me as well as I’ve been playing here since I was 13 years old when it was Goodwood Golf Club.

“We had some local knowledge but you still have to play well. It’s really exciting to get to Gleneagles, especially as it’s only a few weeks away now.”

Fogden admitted he never thought a round of 62 would be beaten.

The PGA Professional said: “It’s a tough course and if you’d said at the start of the day that we’d score 65 or 66, I’d have taken it.

“But when we finished at nine-under I didn’t think anyone would do better than that.

“We had a great start and built up our momentum. We never once took a backwards step.”