Kennedy's triumph
17/05/2013
Lloyd Kennedy won the 93rd Essex PGA Open Championship with two rounds of one over par 69 in difficult conditions at Chelmsford Golf Club.
Twenty-eight year old Kennedy, based at Chelmsford, held a European Tour card last year after his 16th place finish in the 2011 Tour School.
His top prize on the Tour was €7900 when joint 31st in the Sicilian Open in March last year.
Runner-up, in a field that included European Tour stars Simon Khan and Robbie Coles, was former Norfolk county amateur Chase Davis, an assistant at Stapleford Abbotts Golf Club. His best-of-day second round of 65 lifted him only one shot behind Kennedy.
Jason Levermore, the recently-appointed head professional at Channels Golf Club, shared third place with Mark Hooper of Rayleigh Golf Range.
Levermore plays in next week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. They were both two shots off the pace with 140.
Khan, runner-up in the BMW PGA Championship in 2006 and winner in 2010, had to settle for fifth place in this Essex event of which he is a former winner. He had rounds of 73 and 68. Coles was joint 16th with 71 and 75.
The leading amateur was Elliot Oxlade, junior captain at Chelmsford Golf Club, who was joint 13th with rounds of 71 and 74. There was a field of 50 including 17 amateurs. The event was sponsored by Burts Potato Crisps.
