Portelli and Ellis share spoils

Glen Portelli of Verulam produced a flawless five-under-par 67 to share top spot at the Mill Green Pro-Am with Ian Ellis (Great Yarmouth and Caister).

Portelli’s bogey-free round began in superb style with birdies at the opening two holes. His putter remained hot as he picked up a further shot at the ninth to turn in 33.

There were two more birdies on the inward nine as the 23-year-old assistant professional reaped the reward for some focused putting practice.

Portelli said: “It was probably the best I have putted since I turned pro. I’ve been working quite a lot analysing my stats, which showed I was struggling with putts from six to nine feet. 

“I’d only holed two nine-foot putts in 2014 until this event.  So I’ve been practising at the six to nine-feet distance and it’s working so far.”

Portelli’s big ambition for 2014 is to make the Titleist PGA Play-Offs at Antalya in November and earn a spot at next year’s BMW PGA Championship.

That’s a tournament Ellis will be playing in later this month and he showed his game was in decent nick in finishing at the summit alongside Portelli.

Ellis, who won the West Middlesex Pro-Am at the end of April, maintained his flying form with six birdies at Mill Green. He closed out his round in impressive fashion, playing the final three holes in two-under to join Portelli at the top.

Ellis said: “I practised really hard since West Middlesex and hit the ball really nicely (at Mill Green). I holed some nice putts, too – it could have been a very low one.”

Mark Hooper (The Rayleigh Club) is another player from the region who will be at Wentworth. He led the winning team at Mill Green and his own round included the day’s only eagle, which came at the par-five 17th.