Mansell the master again

Clevedon’s Ashley Mansell (above) won his second consecutive Gloucester and Somerset PGA medal at a wet and windy Stinchcombe Hill.

With some temporary greens in use it was decided to shorten the event to 14 holes and the stableford scoring system was also deployed.

Mansell was the only player to better the par figure of 28 points with a score of 30. This gave him a two-point cushion over James Jakes and Mark Sanders as he followed up his previous success at the end of January at Minehead.

Since his last win in West Somerset he has been in Qatar and Dubai to watch some European Tour golf.

He failed to birdie the short opening par four hole but then gained shots at the next two holes before immediately giving one back at the fourth. He collected two more birdies at the 14th and 15th and made one bogey at the penultimate hole.

He leapfrogged Ed Goodwin (Cirencester) to move back into third in the Total Triumph Order of Merit as the race to the top reaches its conclusion.

Knowle assistant James Jakes has spent recent years abroad teaching but has now settled back in Bristol and enjoyed his best G&S PGA result.

Starting with a birdie, he scored only one point in three holes as he reached the turn.

But coming home was a different story.  He made four birdies and required seven putts in his final eight holes which were played in 27 shots. His five-birdie haul earned him the birdie sweep prize.

Stockwood Vale teaching professional and former European Tour player Mark Sanders carded three birdies and three bogeys. Despite his limited appearances he is working his way up the OOM as he shows he has lost none of his scoring ability during his self-imposed absence in recent years.

He also took the Over 40’s sweep.

Giuseppe Licata (Bristol Golf Centre), Goodwin, George Ryall (Players Club) and newcomer Alex Higgs tied fourth on 27 points.

Licata took advantage of long time OOM leader Ross Langdon’s (Brickhampton) absence to move within striking distance of the lead and chase his third successive title.

Following next week’s medal at Naunton Downs captain Robin Goodey (Chipping Sodbury) will select his team to face the Devon PGA at Torquay in April.