Late birdies boost Drummond

Scott Drummond won for the second time this season and said after his win at Minchinhampton that it had been “a great day at the best pro-am of the year so far.”

New Welsh professional champion Toby Hunt (St Mellons) was leader in the clubhouse for two hours before being joined on three-under-par 67 by Kevin Harper (East Devon).

Then Plymouth-based Drummond burst ahead with 68 that contained six birdies, four in a row from the eighth. Yet he started with a bogey and made another at the par three 13th before clinching success with birdies at the 16th and 18th.

The consistent Hunt dropped one shot and carded four birdies. Harper was four under par after six holes and took his birdie count to six on the 16th and 18th.

Drummond, 44, winner of the PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2004, has now won four times since he started playing on the region four years ago. His previous win this year was at Bowood where he shared with Paul Hendriksen.

Sion Bebb (Morlais Castle) overcame a double bogey on the opening hole to claim fourth on 68 by making five birdies.

Paul Fiddes (Cricket St Thomas), Nick Ramshaw (Bristol & Clifton) and James Lee (Lansdown ) shared fifth as the only other players to break par on a perfect day for golf which was organised by the club’s golf events co-ordinator Tom Sheffield , the former PGA West tournament controller.

Bebb led the winning team of Nick Stratford, Scott Thomas and Clint Gobey on 18-under-par 90. Harper’s trio of Simon Carter, Neil Woolfrey and Shane Cox were two shots behind, taking second on countback from Alex Higgs (Stinchcombe Hill), Peter Williams, Alistair Thomson and Stephen Moss.