Oakmere Park pair set for the Italian job

Retired PE teacher and amateur golfer Mike Douglas will swap Nottinghamshire’s autumnal weather for the Italian sunshine when he experiences the highlight of his golfing career later this month.

The 58-year-old will partner Oakmere Park Golf Club’s director of golf Daryl St-John Jones in the final of the SkyCaddie PGA Pro-Captain Challenge.

The final of the competition, which is supporting Prostate Cancer UK, will be played at Argentario Golf Resort and Spa, the home of The PGA National - Italy and contested by the winning pairs from 10 regional qualifiers.

Douglas, the captain of the club near Southwell, and his partner booked their place in it by winning a qualifier at Headingley Golf Club, Leeds, earlier this month.

They won that on countback after St-John Jones sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the final hole to rack up 43 Stableford points.

Initially, however, Douglas was unaware of the significance of their achievement or the location of the 36-hole final which carries a £22,000 prize fund.

“Mike didn’t realise the next round would be in Italy,” said St-John Jones, who has been at Oakmere Park since 1995. “He assumed the final was in this country.”

Douglas, a 12-handcapper who has not been to Italy before, added: “As well as not knowing where the final was, I didn’t realise how big this competition is.

“Hundreds of pairs from golf clubs all over Great Britain and Ireland enter, so playing in the final is not only the highlight of my year as captain but my entire golfing career.

“It’s the first time the club has done anything like this and the members are delighted. I’m really looking forward to it.”

• Categories:
• PGA Pro-Captain Challenge
• Nottinghamshire