Maiden victory for rookie Maltby

Sam Maltby (The Berkshire) shot a flawless six-under-par 65 around Hankley Common GC to win the first event of the new PGA in England and Wales (South) Winter Series by a commanding four strokes.

Playing Hankley for the first time and one of only four players able to break par during the Titleist and FootJoy-supported event, Maltby walked away with the winner’s cheque for £500. As the leading assistant he also took home the valuable Titleist & FootJoy ball, glove and shoe contract that he will now enjoy for the next twelve months.

In second spot, with a card of two-under-par 69 was South Winchester’s veteran campaigner Richard Adams, followed on one-under-par by local Hankley Common man Jonathan Didlick and Robert Gowers (South Winchester).

Maltby turned professional just over a year ago and played in a few events this year, but his six-under-par 65 came out of the blue, as he explained: “The results to date have been very average, and I’ve certainly worked on a few things recently, but shooting 65 wasn’t in the plan!”

Maltby started with a birdie, made another at the fifth and then the eighth to reach the turn in three-under-par. He negotiated the difficult 10^th and 11^th holes with two-putt pars and then birdied the par-five 13^th. On the home run, he deuced the short 16^th and then made one more birdie at the 17^th, with a two-putt par on the tricky final hole to finish in a cool 65 strokes.

“I was playing really nicely, hit 17 out of 18 greens in regulation and putted well,” Maltby explained. “I’ve never played Hankley before and it was in great condition. It was quite windy over the front nine and I coped with that fine, then it dropped away and rained for the back nine, but it didn’t seem to affect my golf.”

Having been a PGA Assistant at The Berkshire for just six months Maltby’s got a long way to go, as he acknowledged: “I’ve got another two years of training and of course I’ll keep practicing over winter as I want to play in some more events in 2015. But it’s terrific to get my first win as a pro under my belt, that’s a big milestone for me and a big boost to my confidence as a player.”