Seventh heaven for Spag at Shirehampton

Giuseppe Licata is proving pretty much unstoppable in Gloucestershire and Somerset PGA medals this winter and he collected his seventh win at Shirehampton.

It was another decisive victory for the Bristol Golf Centre professional who shot four-under-par 63 at the course overlooking the River Avon near the famed Clifton Suspension Bridge.

This brought a three-shot success over another regular top three man George Ryall (Players Club) and Ashley Mansell (Clevedon) as he extended his lead in the Total Triumph Order of Merit to more than 100 points with five events to play.

Shirehampton is the shortest course on the schedule but ranks among the trickiest because of small greens and tight fairways. Licata, known to all as “Spag,” took advantage of the spring sunshine after early mist to win for the third successive week.

He started with birdies at the fourth and seventh, chipped in at the monster par-four 11^th and followed with a four at the 12^th, the only par five. He dropped a shot at the 14th but made his fifth birdie at the 16^th. But he had to share the birdie sweep with Kevin Pitts (Mendip) whose round was a mixed bag.

Ryall struggled with a troublesome back but carded four birdies in his 66 while his protégé Mansell also managed four after he recovered from a slow start.

Burnham and Berrow’s Lee Corfield and Somerset amateur champion Matt Kippen (Enmore Park) matched par.