Second Sprint championship for Ruth

James Ruth won the Sprint Series for the second time in three years   beating Bude’s Adam Curtis by the narrowest of margins.

He shared first place with Greg Davies (South Cerney) in the fifth and final leg at Yelverton.

Ruth, 33, in his final year of training at China Fleet, was runner-up in 2015 and winner the next season.  

He followed his success in the Yelverton pro-am last year by carding two-under-par 69 in an event sponsored by Titleist and Footjoy and supported by Golfbreaks.com. who also rewarded Ruth with a min-break.

He rushed to six-under par after his final birdie on the 11^th but faltered with a double bogey at the 12^th and dropped two late shots as well.

Left-hander Davies eagled the fifth hole and took the clubhouse lead with his fourth birdie on the 18^th.

Curtis was the bonus pool leader and was paired with Ruth and another strong contender Craig Melding (Neath) who could only finish 12th.

Curtis fought off Ruth’s challenge with an eagle and four birdies but his cause was lost when he made a double bogey at the par three17^th to lag one shot behind. He shared third with Ross Langdon (Brickhampton Court) as the only other players to better par.

Jessica Bradley (Tiverton), who is making a strong impression in her first season as a trainee, and player-to-watch Ryan Pope (Exeter) were joint fifth on level par.

The five winners of the lucrative Titleist and Footjoy bonus contracts were Ruth, Curtis, Davies, Langdon and Melding.

Regional manager Robert Moss said: “Once again this well-supported Series has given valuable playing experience to the younger players and several new trainees, thanks to our sponsors.”