Sussex stars shine at Royal Ashdown

Jamie Harris (Nevill) shot a sizzling six-under-par 134 to cruise away with The PGA in Sussex Championship, supported by DataStor, at Royal Ashdown.

One behind the 67 of the in-form first round leader Tim Spence (The Golf College) with a par round of 68 on the West Course, Harris hit the gas pedal in the afternoon on the much more challenging Old Course and shot a terrific round of six-under-par 66.

He overtook Spence and left him four shots behind, despite opening with a bogey and making a double bogey on the 17^th. With a two-under-par 138 Spence collected the runner’s up cheque, and Sussex colleagues Paul Nessling (Cooden Beach) and Rusell Buxton (Hassocks) tied for third on one-over-par 141.

After the opening stumble, Harris’s round immediately went into overdrive, making birdies at the next two holes and then another at the fifth to reach two-under. A sublime eagle at the par five eighth followed two more pars, and after getting through the next three tricky holes in par, Harris made another eagle at the 12^th to reach six-under-par, and followed that with one more birdie at the 13^th.

Another birdie followed at the 15^th putting Harris on eight-under on the Open qualifying course. Despite the double at the 17^th, Harris’s position at the top of the leaderboard on six-under-par and 134 for the day went unchallenged as Spence dropped back with a one-under-par 71 and a total of 138.

Harris was delighted with his sixth victory of the season, saying, “I’m getting into top gear a bit more often this year, and the short game’s finding the target as well, but it’s great to get these sort of results and wins against some class opposition.

“We had a great sponsor with DataStor, the courses were in top condition and the weather was virtually perfect, all of which added to everyone’s enjoyment of what we all thought was a super day’s golf at a terrific venue. It is also fantastic that The PGA can provide opportunities like this for PGA Professionals in Sussex, as they have now done over the last couple of years.”