Keogh looking for key to success

Adam Keogh will be striving to ‘right some wrongs’ as he prepares for the Galvin Green PGA Assistants’ Championship Final at Little Aston Golf Club.

The Spalding Golf Club assistant returns to the event after coming sixth at Coventry Golf Club last year.

He will be teeing off again at the £32,000 showpiece event at the Birmingham venue from August 3-5.

Keogh, 28, admits that it was the PGA training programme that put his career back on track after suffering painful back problems.

And he hopes he can show he is back on top form in this year’s final.

“I didn’t play in the first year of my training but I made it to the final last year at Coventry and did well but it could’ve been better apart from my second round - I was steady other than that,” explained Keogh.

“I’m looking forward to going back to the final and righting some wrongs from last year. It’s a different venue of course and one I haven’t played since 2009 when I was in the English Amateur. But I’m looking forward to returning.”

Keogh, who finished third in his qualifying event at Coventry Golf Club in May, is in the process of completing his PGA training and has ambitions to combine playing with teaching.

“I took the PGA route because I was playing EuroPro tour golf but I had problems with a back injury that forced me out of the game for a while,” he added.

“I felt that the PGA training was the best course for me and it has been. I’ve worked on my back and managed to avoid too much more trouble with treatment and common sense.

“I want to keep playing but long term, teaching is where I see myself. We’ve got a strong membership at Spalding and I’d like to keep on doing what I’m doing here.”

Sponsors Galvin Green plan to provide the two overnight leaders in the 54-hole event with a distinctive MAPPING Ventil8™ shirt to denote who set the pace on the first day (Imperial blue) and during the penultimate round (Electric red).

In addition, the champion will be rewarded with the profile of an official Galvin Green Tour player for the year, plus a complete golfing wardrobe selected during a visit to the brand’s UK showroom.

The tournament prize fund of £32,000 includes a first prize of £5,000 and entry into the end of season PGA Play Offs where they have a chance at qualifying for the 2017 BMW PGA Championship. The winner also gets a place in the Australian PGA Futures Championship.

Other assistants from the Midlands due to play at Little Aston include:  Robert Bardsley (Moor Hall Golf Club); Jamie Carney (Kings Norton Golf Club); Michael Reed (Glen Gorse Golf Club); Nicholas Herridge (Brampton Heath Golf Centre); Daniel Whitby-Smith  (Whittington Heath Golf Club); Oliver Booth  (Scraptoft Golf Club); Timothy Shephard  (Bransford Golf Club); Ben Hall (Rushcliffe Golf Club) and Martin Allen  (Notts Golf Club)