Talented field set for Inter-County final

Fifteen talented PGA Pros are set to tee up on behalf of their counties in the final of the PGA England & Wales Inter-County Championship at the Belfry.

In total five teams of three will do battle for the silverware, which was first competed for in 2013, over the Warwickshire venue’s PGA National Course on October 13-14.

Among the most experienced in the field will be European Senior Tour regular George Ryall, who will be teeing up with fellow Gloucestershire & Somerset pros Giuseppe Licata and Edward Goodwin.

But they will face tough competition from two past PGA Professional champions in Paul Simpson and Dan Greenwood, who will represent BB&O and Lincolnshire respectively.

This event was won last year by Yorkshire, but they missed out on the chance to defend their title after succumbing to a confident Lancashire side in the regional qualifier at Bolton Golf Club.

David Shacklady, who played in the inaugural staging of this event two years ago and has won more than 200 pro-ams regionally, heads up the team from the west side of the Pennines.

Meanwhile Glen Portelli, fresh from securing a place on the plane to Turkey for the end-of-season PGA Play-Offs, will tee up alongside two of his fellow pros from Hertfordshire.

The Belfry has hosted the PGA Inter-County Championship each year since its inception, and is famed as the home of the Ryder Cup, having hosted the biennial matchplay championship in 1985, 1989, 1993 and 2002.

The teams competing in the final are: BB&O; Guy Woodman, Paul Simpson and Scott Marshall; Gloucestershire & Somerset; Giussepe Licata, Edward Goodwin and George Ryall; Hertfordshire; James Ruebotham, Glen Portelli and James Jankowski; Lancashire; David Shacklady, Barry Taylor and Simon Lucas; Lincolnshire; Adam Keogh, Scott Emery and Daniel Greenwood.