Hamblett maps out path to final for Warks

Inside knowledge helped Jak Hamblett (pictured) as he bagged two eagles in a sparkling 67 to help Warwickshire earn a place in the final of the inaugural PGA England & Wales Inter County Championship sponsored by SkyCaddie.

The Handsworth attached PGA pro, who has mapped courses for SkyCaddie to ensure the accuracy of the market leading rangefinder, utilised the information to good effect as he and team-mates Darren Murphy (Stonebridge Golf Club) and Fred Jewsbury (Stratford-on-Avon) carved out a seven-shot winning margin over county rivals Leicestershire & Rutland in the Stapleford Park qualifier.

Hamblett’s six-under-par effort was the highlight of the 36-hole qualifier which saw the best two scores from each county trio count towards a final score.  The 27-year-old picked up his first eagle on the 536-yard par five second hole and added another on the 312-yard par four 12^th hole. He had a further five birdies including four on the back nine.

Warwickshire finished on 11-under with Jewsbury’s contributing rounds of 70 and 72 and Darren Murphy also posting a one-under-par 71.

Their efforts put them comfortably clear of the Leicestershire & Rutland trio of Matt Cort (Rothley Park), Adam Brown (Exclusive Leisure) and Matt Whelband (Park Hill) and secured them a spot in the £10,000 36-hole final, which will be held on the PGA National, at The Belfry on October 14-15.

Murphy, who is the general manager and director of golf at Stonebridge, admitted they were delighted to win especially with newly crowned PGA Assistants’ Champion Matt Cort in the Leicestershire & Rutland team.

“It’s a great feeling to win, I think we went into as underdogs as I don’t get to play a huge amount of golf, while Fred is on his first year of training so has not played much either. Jak was always going to be our anchor but I’m pleased we all contributed,” he said.

“From my point of view I got it going in the afternoon, got to the turn in 30 and threw a couple away on the back nine but the wind was getting up and was tricky so I think I would have settled for one under in those conditions.

“There was a good atmosphere, it’s a fun format and we know quite a few of the guys so there was a bit of winding up going on at lunch.

“Now we can look forward to the final at The Belfry on the PGA National. It’s a tough course and can be windy which as an Irish links player might suit me and hopefully we can win in our home county.”

The new tournament is open to every county in England and Wales, with the finalists decided via five regional qualifiers across the country.