Marshall victorious at West Essex

Andy Marshall (Bawburgh) bagged two eagles on the back-nine to help claim a one-shot victory in the West Essex Pro-Am.

Marshall, 43, chipped in from 40 yards for a three at the par-five 10th before back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14 helped him reach four-under-par.

But the Norfolk-based ace still found himself a shot back from fellow former European Tour player Ray Russell (Centurion Club) as he came to the closing hole – an uphill par-five.

Marshall chose 3-wood from the tee before cutting a rescue club into around 20 feet of the cup, pin high. It was then that he chose to glance at the leaderboard

He said: “I saw Ray had shot five-under, so I’d got two putts to tie but I thought, ‘Well, I’ll just hit as good a putt as I can.

“I hit it out to the left, it started to turn in and it was perfect – middle of the hole. It was one of those that the nearer it got, the more it was in. I was thrilled.”

That second eagle sat alongside a total of four birdies for Marshall, who signed for a six-under-par 64 that secured his first victory on the PGA in England (East) schedule.

It was slightly ironic that he should deny Russell as the Scot – a former European Tour winner – had put him up the evening before.

Marshall added: “Ray is a good friend and we’ve known each other for years. I’d actually stayed at his the previous night and he took me to his local for a quiz!”

Rob Coles (Maylands G&CC) was third, while Oli Fisher (European Tour) shared fourth place with Darren Charlton (Dunstable Downs).

Fisher’s team took the honours in the team competition with a tally of 121 – four better than the quartet’s of Coles and Chris Cutchie (Colchester).