Raitt takes top prize at Bearwood Lakes
16/07/2015
Andy Raitt (St. George’s Hill), the new PGA Southern Open champion, took the honours at The PGA in England (South)’s biggest club pro-am by shooting a five-under-par 67 to win the Westcoast Pro-Am at Bearwood Lakes.
A delighted Raitt commented: “It’s turning into a pretty good season for me. My swing’s very comfortable, and the new custom fit Titleist driver and clubs are making things a lot easier for me to play within myself and still score well. Bearwood Lakes is a terrific course, and we all owe a big vote of thanks to Westcoast for its magnificent support. This event is one of the schedule’s highlights.”
Supported by Westcoast, the event offers the largest club pro-am prize fund of the season, and certainly the biggest prize table of the year. Raitt duly took home the winner’s cheque for £4,000 along with a 48 inch Samsung television courtesy of Westcoast for his efforts. Underlining the size of the prizes, the following pack comprising Paul Simpson (West Berks), James Ablett (Lee-on-the-Solent), and Craig Cowper (Surrey Downs) all carded 68s and walked away with no less than £1,433 each.
Director of Golf Jon Dry reflected: “The pro-am is a flagship event for Bearwood Lakes and the biggest pro-am on the PGA South schedule as well. This event gives us a terrific opportunity to showcase the club and its Top 100 course to over 200 golfers, which in turn has had all sorts of benefits. The strength of the professional field is also pretty impressive, with all the top regional players competing and a very welcome re-appearance by the now European Tour’s Matt Ford (CK Group).”
Raitt seems to have had the knack of picking his winning opportunities in the 2015 schedule to date. He maximised the returns from the PGA Southern Open Championship with victory in the pro-am as well as the Open itself. Two weeks later he tied with David Osborn at Stoke Park in the high profile JDRF Pro-Am, with both players shooting the highest number of birdies at £75 each to earn the largest cheques. Now Raitt’s walked off with the most lucrative pro-am first prize.
Starting at the 10th, Raitt hit top gear straightaway with a birdie at his opening hole. Giving it back at the short 14th with a bogey, he immediately repaired the damage and made two more birdies at the 15th and 16th to be two-under at the turn. Raitt then deuced the third, birdied the fifth and the eighth to card 67 and claim his seventh victory of the 2015 season.
Of the runners up, Ablett was the most consistent with a bogey-free card of 68 and four birdies, while Cowper made four birdies as well and an eagle at the 11th, but dropped shots at the 14th and his final hole left him sharing second spot. Both men went very close with long-range putts on the 18th to tie with the man from St George’s Hill.
West Berkshire’s Simpson was probably the one who could have knocked Raitt off the podium, shooting seven birdies on his way round the stunning Bearwood Lakes course, but three dropped shots on the trot on the third, fourth and fifth spoiled what may otherwise have been the score to beat.
