Rich pickings for Wallis

Richard Wallis (Walmer & Kingsdown) notched up his fifth victory of the season, shooting a sizzling five-under-par 65 to win The Richmond Pro-Am.

Wallis has had an impressive July as this event makes this his third Pro-Am win in as many weeks. He took the £800 winner’s cheque from under the nose of second placed Andrew Butterfield (Knole Park) who carded a 66, while David Osborn (West Hill) shot 67 for third spot.

Wallis’s round wasn’t all plain sailing however. With a shotgun start on the fifth, his round soon got underway with a shot to one foot for a birdie two on the sixth. Wallis charged through the next four holes making three birdies and a very handy eagle at the 11th to take him to six-under-par.

Five more solid pars followed and then another birdie at the first put Wallis in command on seven-under-par. In sight of his fifth win of the season with just two holes to go, a couple of bad bounces led to successive bogeys on his last two holes, the third and fourth, and Wallis returned a 65.

Wallis was unfazed by his finish as he explained: “Both my shots to the third and the fourth were good. “One finished 40 foot past after a hard bounce, and the other was a seven iron downwind for a 188-yard tee shot that bounced and ran through the back. They were the shots I intended to play, and I’d have done the same again at those two holes.

“I’m playing well tee to green and while it’s all down to how well my short game is performing on the day, things are going to plan.  Richmond’s a nice course in great condition and the wind made things a bit more interesting. I hit a lot of three woods and irons off the tee to make sure I stayed in business and that set up what turned out to be a winning score.”

While in the area, Wallis also took the opportunity to check out Richmond Park, next week’s venue for the PGA Surrey Open.