Ormskirk pair top WPGA Lombard qualifier

Former Wales amateur international Sara Fitzgerald, right, booked her place on the plane for Portugal after winning the WPGA Lombard Trophy regional final with partner Alison Gray at Camberley Heath Golf Club.

Fitzgerald partnered Ormskirk Golf Club PGA pro Gray to record a six-under-par round of 66 at the Surrey venue.

That was enough to earn them a one shot victory ahead of Katy Edwards and Janet Beckerley, of South Wales’s Bryn Meadows Golf & Country Club and Deana Rushworth and Sally Baxter of Witney Lakes Golf Club in Oxfordshire.

All three pairings will now play in the inaugural WPGA Lombard Trophy grand final which is supported by Coca Cola and is being held at beautiful Pestana Golf Resort in Vila Sol from September 22-23.

Alice Davis  and  Debbie Ricketts, from Parkstone Golf Club in Dorset, missed out by just one shot in a close fought contest.

But Fitzgerald - who played internationally under her maiden name of Mountford - brought some golfing experience to the event and it proved to be the difference.

“I played for Wales at junior and Under-21 level,” said the Ormskirk-based four-handicapper who works in the banking industry.

“But I haven’t played internationally since about 2000 now.

“Plus my father Terry Mountford - who’s 75 this year - was a professional playing in Tenby, so I picked up the golf clubs from an early age. Probably when I was about three! But more seriously when I was 10 years old.

“It’s great to win to get to a Portugal final, we’re both really looking forward to it.”

Gray admitted the round did not entirely go to plan even though she and Fitzgerald made eight birdies in all.

“We started and finished with a bogey,” she smiled. “But everything else went okay in between so it was a good day and a special win.

“It was excellent really, Sara used her shots well and she brought a lot of experience to the event. It’s fantastic that we’ll be going to the final.”