Antalya Golf Club (PGA National Turkey) is gearing up for a thrilling contest as 12 pro-am pairs prepare to go head-to-head in the St James’s Place National Pro-Am Grand Final from 27-28th November.
The event will feature a 36-hole, four-ball team stableford format played over two days. Amateur golfers earned their place by winning their club's qualifying round and progressing through one of seven Regional Finals with their PGA Pro. Now, those 12 successful pairs will battle it out for the title at Antalya Golf Club (PGA National Turkey) and the compact field guarantees a thrilling, closely fought contest where every shot matters.
For PGA Professionals, there’s more than glory on the line - an impressive £10,000 first prize awaits the champion. But this event isn’t just about individual brilliance, it’s about teamwork - the synergy between pro and amateur could be the deciding factor, adding a layer of strategy and camaraderie that sets this event apart.
Mark Talbott (Upminster Golf Club) and his amateur playing partner, Stuart Kinsella (left to right), qualified for the SJP National Pro-Am Grand Final following success at Kings Hill Golf Club and are looking forward to the challenge.
As a regular contender in the PGA Play-Offs and PGA Professional Championship, Talbott is no stranger to pressure situations and tournament play is very important to him. He said: “For me, playing competitive golf is crucial. It helps me in other areas of our job as a PGA Professional, such as fitting and coaching. I've always been a keen believer that you've got to be able to demonstrate as well as tell people how to do things, and the reason why I turned pro and went down the PGA route was mainly because of the playing opportunities available.”
Talbott and Kinsella’s qualification experience at Kings Hill Golf Club was an interesting one, as Talbott explains: “Stuart won the qualifying event at the club and then we went down to Kings Hill a couple of months ago. We got off to a pretty steady start and our playing partners were actually beating us for the first nine, so the fact that they were playing well dragged us along a bit as well, which was helpful.
Since qualifying, both players have been in preparation mode for the Grand Final. Talbott elaborates: “Although I see him every Sunday when I'm in the shop, the qualifying event was the first time I ever played golf with Stuart. We had a chat immediately after the round and identified some of his strengths and weaknesses, and he's had a few lessons as well as trying to keep his golf going. For me, I've entered a couple more tournaments than I might normally do this time of year, which has kept me going and I've managed to stay fairly sharp.”
Although it will be their first time playing in this event, Talbott has played PGA National Turkey a number of times, and is looking forward to taking on one of his favourite courses once again: “It’s a fair test - there's quite a bit of water and like a lot of courses in Turkey, it's pretty well irrigated, so you can't run the ball along the ground. You've got to fly it all the way and hit proper shots. I'd say I'm relatively long off the tee so it's probably going to be in my wheelhouse, and Stuart as well, although he's a six handicap, he hits the ball quite a long way, so hopefully we can make it work and shoot some nice scores. I think the sponsors have lined up a couple of nice dinners and things as well. So it’ll be nice to chill out a bit in the evenings.”
Find out more about the event and follow the scoring from the St James’s Place National Pro-Am Grand Final here.
