South celebrates top PGA pros

Tour player Matt Ford, leading coach John Noble and order of merit winner James Ablett were among those honoured in The PGA in England (South) annual awards at the world-famous Wentworth Club.

The black tie dinner followed a pro-am for the region’s supporters, friends and associates.

Regional chairman John Kennedy (Wexham Park) handed over the honours to each of the winning PGA Professionals, while regional secretary Sam Smith provided the 200 guests with insights to the illustrious achievements of each golfer.

Ablett (Lee-on-the-Solent)  is the new Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit champion and he will soon be in Turkey with runner up Benn Barham (PGolfCoaching@Pedham) and third placed Guy Woodman (Longball) to compete in the PGA Play-Offs.

The roll call included an Outstanding Achievement award for Ford (CK Group) whose televised exploits in the UBS Hong Kong Open earned him full playing rights for the 2016 European Tour.

The PGA in England (South) Assistant of the Year: Colton Davis

Colton Davis (James Andrews School of Golf) finished in the top 25 of the Regional Order of Merit, came second in the Longball PGA South Assistants Order of Merit, and won three county events and the Sussex PGA Order of Merit for 2015. He also passed his Year One Trainee exams in April with merit, and worked hard to support the local juniors in their own stages of golf development.

The PGA in England (South) Coach of the Year 2015: John Noble

A PGA member and golf coach since 1993, John Noble (RAC Club) has one of the most illustrious careers of any golf coach, especially when it comes to stars of the future, getting young people into golf or simply getting great results.

Now the head coach for Surrey Golf and regional coach for England Golf, Noble is based at The RAC Club as senior teaching professional. Under his guidance, Surrey Men’s team won the Southern League in 2013, the regional six-man team qualifier in 2014, and finish third in the National Finals.

The Surrey Junior teams have been equally successful with the U18 finishing second in the inaugural league in 2015, the U16s winning their league in 2012, 2013 and 2015, and the U14 team winning just about everything they compete in since 2012, and the Triple Shield from 2012 to 2014.

As the regional U16 Boys coach for England Golf since 2012, Noble works with the best U16 golfers from Surrey, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands, and as the direct link between the national and county squads, he has seen five players from his squads go on to represent England.  

He also works at Reeds School in Cobham, helping set up and run their new golf academy with over 20 players in the programme and win the first ever national title in 2014 of the HMC Schools Foursomes.

He currently personally coaches around 20 elite players from Surrey and Hampshire, several of whom have won events like the Surrey Boys U18, U16, U15 and U14 Championships, and the Hampshire equivalents.

 Outstanding Achievement Award: Matt Ford (CK Group)

Several years ago Matt Ford was plying his trade in the Kent PGA and PGA South Region Pro-Ams and tournaments but in November 2014, faced with the prospect of applying for a job through the winter with the Royal Mail, Ford produced a fantastic final round of nine-under-par 62 in Stage 2 of the European Tour Q School. Reaching the Final Stage, he finished fourth to guarantee some limited starts on the 2015 European Tour.

Playing in 28 European Tour events, Ford made the cut in half of them with the highlight being a 2nd place in the Africa Open, where the eventual winner played the last 36-holes in 17-under-par, the last 18 mostly from out of the trees! But it still gave Ford the confidence and belief that he had the game to finish inside the magic top 110 on the Race to Dubai.

It all came down to last month’s UBS Hong Kong Open where rounds of 69, 65 and 67 got him inside the top 10 going into the final round. A birdie at the 17th and two putts from 40 feet on the last green for 69 left Ford in a tie for seventth place, enough for 105th place in the Race to Dubai and full playing rights on the 2016 European Tour.

The PGA in England (South) Player of the Year 2015: James Ablett (Lee-on-the-Solent)

James Ablett (below right with John Kennedy) has had an exceptional year in the Region, racking up 14 wins, eight runner up spots and 11 other top 5 finishes. He won two major tournaments, the PGA Surrey Open Championship at Kingswood with 11-under-par over 36 holes, and the PGA Kent Open Championship at Prince’s with 11-under-par over 54 holes.

He also won the Keith MacDonald Memorial Match Play by beating Guy Woodman on the last green in the final at The Berkshire. Three days later he was runner up in the new PGA Farnham Order of Merit Finale, earning more than enough points to claim the Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit title for 2015.

It is the second time Ablett has achieved this, the first time being in 2009, and the new champion sealed his place in the PGA Playoffs in Turkey in December alongside former champion Benn Barham and Guy Woodman.

To underline both how well he played, and how consistently he delivered winning performances, Ablett played 71 rounds with a scoring average of 69.4 with 37 rounds in the 60s, amassing 304 birdies and eight eagles, while running away with The PGA in England (South) Money List.