Harry is a Shaw thing

Ad man Harry Shaw (right) produced an attention grabbing display at Old Fold Manor Golf Club to seal a place at Gleneagles.

Muswell Hill Golf Club amateur Shaw teamed up with PGA Professional David Wilton to win the Lombard Trophy PGA National Pro-Am Championship qualifier at the Barnet venue.

But they had an anxious wait before finding out they would be heading for the Scottish showpiece event.

Shaw and Wilton carded a six-under-par round of 65 and were tied at the top of the leaderboard with Darren Charlton and Lee Owens of Dunstable Downs Golf Club.

But the day ended with Ben Goodey and Robert Jones, of Sawbridgeworth’s Manor of Groves Golf Club, also finishing on six-under-par.

The Muswell Hill pairing were victors on countback however.

Now they will play in the £80,000 final over the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles between September 1-2.

Shaw, aged 66 and a creative director for a London advertising agency, admitted it was a tense wait.

“I felt quite chipper in the end,” he smiled.

“It was a wonderful day for golf, when the sun’s shining you seem to be able to caress every ball rather than battling against the elements.

“And getting to Gleneagles is tremendous. But the last time I played there was as part of a golf society and it rained from first tee to last, so I hope we get more good weather.

“I’ve been a member at Muswell Hill for around 14 years and it’s a real hub of the community.

“I think we’ll have a lot of support for this and they’ll be putting their hands together for us.”

Shaw, who plays off a handicap of 17, admitted that Wilton deserved his victory.

“The course loved him,” he said.

“But it was a bit anxious at the end, we could see the scoreboard and we appeared to be third - but the names were listed in alphabetical order so we were fine.”

Wilton is a previous winner of the PGA National Pro-Captain Championship and hopes the format will be kind to him at Gleneagles.

“You need a good partner, and that’s what I had here,” he said.

“But our hearts were in our mouths when a third pair joined us on six under par. I think birdying the 17^th hole was a crucial moment for us.”

Wilton has played Gleneagles before - but not for some time.

“I was about 13 and we were on a family holiday,” he explained.

“It’s going to be a bit different this time.”