Grand finale for Rice at Farnham
15/04/2016
No doubt inspired by the final round performance of the new Masters champion, Purley Downs’ Matt Rice (left) delivered a sensational seven-under-par 65 around Farnham to run away with the final event in the Titleist & FootJoy PGA South Winter Series 2015-16.
In near-perfect April conditions, Rice lifted the Titleist & FootJoy Assistants and Trainees Betterball Pro-Am by four strokes ahead of his nearest rivals, Ben Flint (right) (Broke Hill) and Alex Lodge (Calcot Park), both of whom shot three-under-par rounds of 69. Rice’s win earned him the winner’s cheque for £444.
Despite Rice’s heroics, Flint’s second place enabled him to snatch the overall win in the 2015-16 Titleist & FootJoy PGA South Winter Series Order of Merit, and the second name on the new Battle Bowl trophy.
Thanks to the sponsors, the Broke Hill man walked away with a £250 cash bonus, a custom fit Titleist 915 Driver and a custom pair of FootJoy MyJoy golf shoes.
Starting on the 10th, Rice opened with birdies on the 10th and 11th. His third birdie on the 14th was offset by a dropped shot on the 15th, but his eagle on the 18th took him to four-under. Another birdie bogey followed at the first and second, but three more birdies at the fourth, seventh and eighth meant he finished way out in front.
The PGA in England (South) secretary, Sam Smith, said: “Thanks to the great support from Titleist & FootJoy, our 2015-2016 Winter Series has been another huge success.
“Once more our members have been able to play at some of the region’s finest courses, and I’m pleased to see that they’ve certainly made the most of the opportunities.
"Congratulations to Ben on winning overall and to all the other winners, and hopefully we will see more of these new names emerging at the top of leaderboards in the future.”
