Route 66 takes Ablett and White to Dartford honours

With eight wins so far, Lee-on-the-Solent’s James Ablett was back in his pomp, shooting a birdie packed round of 66, only to be matched within an hour of finishing his round by Sutton Green’s Bernard White.

Taking home £1,200, Ablett was reflecting on the five birdies that put him on five-under and well in the lead down the back nine, only to crash out of the 15^th with a triple bogey seven. One more birdie at the 17^th redressed the balance, but left Ablett’s clubhouse leadership distinctly assailable, as White soon proved.

“The 15^th is my nemesis,” explained Ablett, “and I’d been thinking about it all the way from home! Some indecision on the tee between and three wood and a three iron didn’t help, and after knocking it out of the trees, I still had 150 to the flag. Again, with the strong-ish wind I went from a seven iron down to hitting a quieter six iron, but even that went through the back leaving me taking a penalty shot away from the OOB fence. On the other hand, the birdie run for five holes was fun!”

Ablett finished with needing a three foot putt at the last hole to take the lead on his own, but it refused to drop and within the hour, White had joined Ablett to make a pair of impressive 66s.

White opened with a bogey but birdied the next two holes and made one more at the ninth to reach two-under at the turn. Two more birdies came along at the 10^th and 11^th to put him on four-under-par, but just as White was potentially in pole position, he bogeyed the par-five 12^th. Nonetheless, pars all the way home left him on 66 in a tie with Ablett.

The winning pair pushed a hard charging Benn Barham (PGolfCoaching@Pedham) into second spot for £750. Two-over-par after the 11^th, Barham got into birdie gear at the 12^th, only to be set back by a bogey at the 15^th. Barham then breezed through the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th with birdie, birdie and eagle for the best finish of the day and a card of two-under-par 67.

Not to be out done, Kevin O’Connell from Purley Downs was also over-par on the 17^th tee, but an eagle two at the par four followed by a birdie at the final hole put him in a tie with Barham and on the end of a cheque for £750. Enjoying a good season so far with four victories, Leatherhead’s Michael Lowe also turned in a noteworthy one-under-par 68 for £600 that included two eagles.