Maiden win for Caunt at Henbury
27/04/2017
Cirencester’s new assistant Mitch Caunt won his first Gloucester and Somerset PGA medal at Henbury in only his third event.
Playing alongside his boss, head pro Ed Goodwin, who won the previous week, the former Gloucestershire county amateur player shared top spot with Kendleshire amateur Spencer Vickery. Both equalled par as unusually no one bettered 69 in the last medal of the winter series.
Yet Caunt looked an unlikely winner after dropping three shots on the first three holes. But he stuck to his task well. He made a birdie at the fourth and fifth. A monster putt across the green at Henbury’s signature hole, the seventh, brought him level.
His third two of the round at the 11th was followed by a succession of pars before he dropped his final shot at the dog-leg par four 16th.
It seemed he would be the sole winner but Vickery came in with four birdies and four bogeys in a 69 made in chilly but bright and dry conditions at the Bristol venue.
The pair finished one shot clear of Total Triumph Order of Merit leader Giuseppe Licata (Chipping Sodbury) and George Ryall (Burnham and Berrow). Stinchcombe duo Alex Higgs and Mark Pitcher shared fifth on 71.
Current Order of Merit leader Licata strengthened his position with a strong result, despite bemoaning a ‘cold’ putter.
The Total Triumph Strokeplay Championship completes the winter season on Wednesday. With his nearest challengers Ashley Mansell (Clevedon) and Goodwin failing to produce their best on the day Licata now enjoys a 32-point lead so a finish inside the top nine will be sufficient.
He will also hope to end the season in top form as the leading players compete for a prize fund in excess of £3,000 in the 36-holes event.
