Gray lands 'home' win

Roger Gray (Thorndon Park) put local knowledge to good use to win the Thorndon Park Invitational Pro-Am by a shot.

Gray, who started his career at the Essex club, shot a three-under-par 68 to finish one clear of a clutch of players.

Credit to Gray, who bounced back superbly from a double bogey at the first hole. He birdied the following par-3 and turned for home at level par.

Gray picked up a stroke at both the 10th and 11th and, indeed, made seven birdies in total to secure outright victory.

Both Brett Taylor (Brett Taylor Golf) and John Judd (Hartswood) came very close to sharing the spoils. Taylor got it to four-under but let shots slip at the 16th and 17th.

It was a similar story for Judd who eagled the ninth to also get to four-under. But he made back-to-back bogies from the 14th and had to settle for tied second.

The other two players to sign for respective two-under-par 69s were James McGilvray (Birchwood Park) and the in-form Glen Portelli (Verulam).

In his last five starts, Portelli has notched a couple of victories and not finished any lower than seventh.