Competitors in this year’s Asbri Welsh National PGA Championship will be vying to have their names engraved on a stunning new trophy as well playing for the prestige of joining a star-studded band of previous winners.
The event was first contested in 1904, three years after the PGA was founded, and has been won by such Welsh golfing luminaries as 1991 US Masters champion Ian Woosnam, plus Ryder Cup players Percy Alliss, Brian Huggett and Philip Price.
None, however, can match the achievement of Sid Mouland who won the tournament six times and in doing so was presented on each occasion with a trophy that was hallmarked in 1921. Not so Woosnam and Price as the trophy went missing in the early 1980s and not been found.
“Mystery surrounds the trophy’s whereabouts,” said David Wright, the PGA’s Member and Heritage Support Executive, who has made unstinting efforts to track it down.
“One school of thought believes it was kept in the offices of the Western Mail in Cardiff, the tournament’s sponsors in the early 1970s, and was mislaid when the company moved. Another is that it could be in the storeroom of a golf club in Wales."
Wright has subsequently been the driving force behind sourcing a replacement and has repurposed a trophy that has been displayed in the PGA boardroom for years but not played for.
“It was known as the Slazenger Trophy and played for just once,” Wright added. “So, it made sense to use it for the Welsh National. As the tournament is the PGA’s oldest national event, Rob Maxfield agreed it should have a fitting item of silverware.
“In that respect, Steve Sanson, who owns the silversmiths Bezants, has worked wonders in replacing the Slazenger Trophy wording with the Welsh National PGA Championship. He has also engraved the names of the first 20 winners on the other side of the trophy and created a new plinth which lists the remainder. The end result is stunning.”
The 31-year-old who is attached to Whitchurch Golf Club, Cardiff, will tee off at the course on the south Wales coast buoyed by winning the PGA West region championship for the second year in succession and third time in all.
However, despite his win at Ashburnham, he is not a fan of links golf but may have a slight advantage in terms of this year’s venue.
“My dad is a member there,” he explained. “So, I've managed to have a few games over the last couple of winters whilst the golf club I was attached to was closed a lot.
“But to be honest, I don't like links golf. I've had some success on links courses, especially at Ashburnham but generally I don't like it. In fairness to Pyle, the course is normally superb whenever I've played it. I am looking forward to it, but I don't think links golf really suits my game.”
“I haven’t played there for ages,” he said, after posting a four-under par round of 68, to lie tied-third after the opening round of the PGA South West Carlsberg Marstons Woodbury Park Order of Merit.
“It’s a course I enjoy playing and am looking forward to it. I’ve been playing well for some time now but not scoring. If I can get the putter going, I’ll be there or thereabouts.”
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