Guy is the Bearwood man

Guy Woodman (East Berks) shot a superb five-under-par 67 to win the Westcoast Pro-Am at Bearwood Lakes, snatching the title from six-time winner Chris Gane (Lefthandedgolf@Silvermere).

The newest pro-am on the PGA in England and Wales (South) schedule for 2014, the event, which was supported by main sponsor Westcoast and also TAG Heuer and the Left Shoe Company, showcased the class of Bearwood Lakes to the max.

The 52 teams found it a very stiff test with greens running at a true 12’ on the stimpmeter, with the whole course manicured to perfection and hospitality second to none.

Thanks to the fantastic support of Westcoast, Woodman walked off with his share of the £12,500 prize fund in the form of the season’s largest winner’s cheques for £3,500 and also a Samsung 48” LCD TV.

Gane was delighted with his £1,600 and iPad Mini, and Rob McGuirk (Prince’s) took home £1,250 and a pair of bespoke Left Shoe Company shoes for his two-under-par 70. As Gane put it: “There aren’t too many events where coming second pays this well!”

Woodman underlined the form he’s found since winning with a 62 in a Swiss Pro-Am event, sharing the West Hill Pro-Am win a couple of weeks ago, and three top ten finishes in between. Despite making three bogeys, Woodman made eight birdies on a course where only three players broke par.

Starting at the 10^th and the last to tee off, he dropped a shot at the 11^th, but two deuces at the 12^th and 14^th repaired the damage and more, and another birdie at the par five 16^th took him to two-under-par.

A two putt birdie at the second was undone by a bogey at the third, but undeterred Woodman charged through the next three with birdies on each one. Although he stumbled with a bogey on the seventh, he bounced back with another birdie on the eighth, and a par on the ninth left him on 67 and leader of the pack.

Third off the first tee in the morning, Gane had to wait almost all day long to find he’d come second, but he was expecting someone to come in with a better score and wasn’t disappointed, as he explained: “I’ve won six events this year on some terrific courses against the classiest opposition on the circuit, and besides, the prize fund for this event is particularly impressive.

“I’m leading the Money List and I’m in the top three for the Virgin Atlantic Little Red PGA South 2014 Order of Merit, so things are going well for me so far this year and I’m confident I can sustain my current form.”

He continued: “I could have done without the double bogey on the 18^th, my ninth, but it was my only major mistake, and the other seventeen holes and six birdies were pretty good. The PGA Surrey Open is coming up at the end of July at Kingswood where I made fourth spot in the recent pro-am, so there’s lots to look forward to!”

Woodman was delighted, commenting: “While I haven’t played as many regional events as I usually do, I’ve now had two wins and eight top ten finishes out of 13 events played, and I certainly found top gear today. Bearwood Lakes was in terrific condition, and it was great to make a good score, even if Chris had to wait all day to find out he’d come second!”