Rayleigh Golf Range on brink of further success

Mark Stokes wants to build on an impressive year for Rayleigh Golf Range when he plays in the Golfbreaks.com PGA Fourball Championship next month.

Stokes (pictured left) will team up with long-time playing partner John Fryatt (right) of Thorpe Hall Golf Club near Southend.

They will be teeing off in the £28,750 BMW-supported final, which will be held at Forest Pines Hotel and Golf Club in Lincolnshire on October 2-4, and Stokes admits a good result there would round-off a decent season for the Essex-based range.

“We’ve got Mark Hooper topping the regional Order of Merit and he can’t be caught now, so he’ll be playing in the PGA Play-Offs in November,” said Stokes.

“I’m in seventh place and Matthew King is 13th. That’s been good for us, especially as we’re only a range.

“It’s good for the owner and gives him a bit of kudos when we’re playing well.”

But Stokes will be looking for an improvement on his last appearance in the Forest Pines final.

He and Fryatt led after the first round in 2009 when they made their debut in the event, but they fell away and did not make the cut.

“This’ll be our second appearance and it’ll be good to try again,” said Stokes.

“We played very well in the first round, then for some reason it just didn’t happen after that.

“At least we know what to expect from the course this time and maybe we can use that to our advantage.

“Either way, we’ll be going out to enjoy it, we’re pleased we made the final again as it’s a great end-of-year event and a great venue to play at.

“We made seven-under-par in the qualifying event at Bush Hill Park so I hope that form continues.”

Other teams from the East of England taking part at Forest Pines include former champions Andrew Pestell (Chelmsford) and Jason Levermore (Channels); Stuart Brown (Orton Meadows) and Ian Ellis (Costessey Park); Richard Lally (Aspley Guise & Woburn Sands) and Joe Winfield (Abbey Hill Golf Centre).