Perfect ten for Stott at Dunham Forest

Rochdale amateur Nigel Stott, left, raced into the Lombard Trophy Final at Gleneagles with a stunning victory in the regional qualifier at Dunham Forest Golf Club.

Stott, of Whittaker Golf Club, teamed up with Manchester professional Jon Cheetham, playing under the banner of the www.1836tour.com.

They carded an impressive 10 under par round of 62 at the Cheshire venue - and were seven under par after just seven holes.

Despite their dominance, Stott and Cheetham sneaked in by only one shot ahead of Gary Watson   and Alan McNichol  (Keswick Golf Club) and Matthew Turnock and Martin Routley (DeVere Mottram Hall Golf Club)

They will now play in the £80,000 final played over the PGA Centenary Course at the Ryder Cup venue between September 1-2.

And for Stott, who is a stock controller for a company that makes carbon fibre bodies for Formula One cars, it was a case of not getting carried away after a superb start.

“We just wanted to make sure we didn’t blow up on the back nine but couldn’t have had a better start, after that we just had to take it one shot at a time,” ,” said the 53-year old seven handicapper.

“Jon talked me round the rest of the course and we made it. “We’re both really looking forward to playing at Gleneagles.”

Cheetham believes the condition of the Dunham Forest course made the event extra-competitive.

“Although we got off to a flier, we still had to make sure we got the job done,” he said.

“After getting to seven under par - including an eagle at the fourth hole which I think is one of the best in the UK - the next three holes we parred.

“It seemed a bit ordinary but we told ourselves that we’d have taken seven under par after 10 holes at the start of the day.

“Nigel birdied the first and we never really looked back.”