On-form Woodman sets the pace at the Belfry

A pair of experienced heads combined at the Belfry to steer BB&O towards the top of the PGA England & Wales Inter-County Championship leaderboard.

Former PGA Assistants’ champion Guy Woodman and ex-PGA Professional Championship winner Paul Simpson hit rounds of 69 and 71 respectively to ensure their county sat at the pinnacle of the leaderboard alongside Hertfordshire going into what promises to be a close final day.

Their level-par total was only two shots ahead of fifth placed Gloucestershire & Somerset. Two further counties, Lancashire and Lincolnshire, are perfectly positioned one shot back, ready to pounce on the second day.

The championship, which has a £10,000 prize fund and is being played over the PGA National Course, is unusual in that only the top two players’ scores count towards the final total.

Woodman, who has been in good form in the south region of late and started here with two consecutive birdies, admitted he came in wanting to do his county proud.

“It’s a strange one,” he admitted. “You come here not wanting to let your team down but at the same time you know that the format gives you a bit more of a license to take a risk.

“I’ve been to the Belfry before but not played the course and I was pleasantly surprised, it’s a lovely golf course.

“In these conditions I think anyone that comes in under par tomorrow will be in with a real chance of winning, and that’s definitely got to be our aim.”

Woodman’s 69 was equalled by James Jankowski of Hertfordshire. The 30 year old fired his county to the top of the leaderboard despite enduring a rough playing patch during the run-up to the event.

“I definitely considered myself to be the third man coming here,” he admitted. “So it was nice to go out there and shoot a good round.

“It was nice being able to relax into it because of the format, and I felt that helped me – I play better when I feel the pressure is off.

“We just need to go out there and do the same again tomorrow – nothing is ever won on the first day.”

Dan Greenwood of Lincolnshire, meanwhile, set the bar on an individual level. The Forest Pines man shot a two-under-par round of 68.