Hallam swapping school of Hard Notts for Portugal

Nottingham amateur Tom Hallam has lofty ambitions as he heads out to the Lombard Trophy Final in Portugal.

Builder Hallam works for his father and can usually be found carrying out home improvements such as new kitchens, bedrooms or loft conversions.

But now he is preparing to fly to the Algarve with Notts Golf Club PGA Professional Michael Bradley for the National Pro-Am Championship Final.

Hallam and Bradley will be aiming to win the £41,450, Coca-Cola and Pestana Resorts supported, event which is being held at the Vila Sol resort between September 20-21.

The 25-year-old Hallam’s work keeps him busy all year round - but he will get time off to travel to the final.

“We’ve always got a lot on, so my team suffers if I’m off for a long time, so I tend have days off rather than weeks,” he said.

But he admits playing in the Lombard Trophy Final will make a change from the challenging nature of the high standard Kirkby in Ashfield venue where he regularly plays his golf.

Notts Golf Club was a course that hosted one of the final qualifying rounds for The Open in July.

And 14-handicapper Bradley admits it is a real test.

“The courses out in Portugal are easy compared to ours which is great but you need to be accurate,” he said.

“In Portugal, you can miss but still score, but at our place if you miss the fairway, you’re struggling and looking at bogey at best.

“I can’t wait for the rough to die down so that I can get some scores in.

‘It’s tough to put a score together if you’re not firing on all cylinders.

“I’m striking the ball well bit one errant tee shot and you’re in trouble, the rough’s knee high. You can be playing really well but if one or two holes don’t go to plan then your score can be ruined.”

The pair made it through by winning the Regional Final on countback at Little Aston Golf Club in Birmingham last June.

They tied at the top after shooting an eight under par round of 64

Hallam says the combination between himself and Bradley has been a good one so far.

“It was a really good format to play for us, with me playing off 14 I’m likely to have a couple of blow up holes, but that’s where Mike came in and steadied the ship. He was happy, but there was nobody as thrilled as me that we made the final,” he said.