Harris raises the bar

Southern star Jamie Harris (Nevill) shot a scorching five-under-par 67 to win the Tylney Park Classic Pro-Am, snatching victory from Richard Wallis (Walmer & Kingsdown) by one shot after holing a 15 foot birdie putt on the last green.

Harris’s fifth win of the season puts him on level pegging with Wallis for Pro-Am victories in 2013, and this particular win gave Harris (pictured) a lot of satisfaction, as he made a strong finish to take pole position and the winner’s cheque for £500 off Wallis. Harris is now lying second behind Wallis in The PGA in England (South) Money List.

“Richard’s playing well again this season and making all of us raise our game,” he said, “so after a couple of weeks of not playing particularly well, shooting 67 was very satisfying.”

Harris identified some things that needed sorting when practicing last weekend, and then got his putter working well on Tylney Park’s excellent greens. “Putting well always helps,” he commented, “and I holed some good ones today. There again, I messed up three wedge shots after terrific drives to make bogeys on the second, fifth and 16th, so there’s still some work to be done!”

The victor made a great start with a birdie at the first, only to give it straight back with a weak wedge that missed the second green. A birdie at the next hole repaired the damage, but then another poor wedge at the fifth put him back on level par. Two excellent birdies on the sixth and seventh meant he reached the turn in two-under-par, and then an eagle at the par five 11th and a birdie at the par five 14th set him on course for the lead.

Another poor wedge set up a bogey at the 16th, but then Harris made a fabulous chip at the short 17th from the back of the green to secure par, and knowing he probably needed a birdie up the 18th, he laid up with a three wood, wedged to 15 foot and holed the putt.

Wallis had played immaculate bogey-free golf for 14 holes on seven-under-par with three birdies and two eagles, but an errant drive on the 16th led to a triple bogey and knocked him back to four-under.

The standard in the regional events in 2013 is higher, as Harris commented, “With Benn Barham and Chris Gane joining in this year, there’s more Tour experienced players competing and it means you’ve got to shoot well under par to be in the frame. That’s good for all of us, and especially for those still nursing ambitions of playing on the Tour.”