Stunning start sees Martin and Lee ease home

Martin Woodbridge (right) and Lee Mackie made sure they learned from their mistakes after topping the leaderboard at the Golfbreaks.com PGA Fourball south region qualifier.

The pair carded an eight-under-par round of 64 at Woodcote Park Golf Club in Surrey.

Woodbridge, of Wokingham’s Bearwood Lakes Golf Club, and Surbiton-based Mackie, representing Lee Mackie Coaching, stayed two shots ahead of a pack of four teams who tied for second spot at the Coulsden venue.

They will join nine other qualifiers at the £35,000 Skycaddie & BMW supported grand final at the Cheshire venue between August 12-14.

And Jordan Godwin (Barnehurst Golf Club) and Ben Daniels (Bletchingley Golf Club) will also be among that group and looking to build on their third place finish in last year’s final at St Mellion in Cornwall.

But Woodbridge admitted that they needed to stay focused if they were to secure their second appearance in the final.

A stunning front nine saw them six under par after just eight holes.

It was an almost identical start to the one they made the last time they reached the final but three years ago they stumbled on the back nine and scraped into the group of qualifiers.

“We didn’t want that to happen this time,” said Woodbridge.

“Last time, we got a bit complacent and thought we’d qualified after 10 holes.

“But then we made a couple of bogeys and only just made it.

“This time, we said to ourselves that, even though we’d made a good start, we should keep it going and aim to be top of the leaderboard. That’s how it turned out. We only made a couple more birdies but didn’t drop any shots.”

The Berkshire PGA Professional is hoping he and Mackie produce a better showing in the final this time.

“We didn’t make the cut when we got to the final before unfortunately,” he said.

“I think we played far too aggressively there - and we didn’t adopt that approach this time but still managed to build some momentum.”