The Addington set sights on dream double

Beckenham golfer Paul Drew is looking to help his PGA Professional James Marshall secure the first half of a dream double when they tee up in the Lombard Trophy final at Gleneagles.

Drew, left, and Marshall, of the Addington Golf Club, will head into the £43,600 grand final over Gleneagles’ PGA Centenary Course after progressing through the regional finals earlier this summer.

More than 800 clubs entered what is the largest pro-am in Europe with Drew and Marshall among the final 16 who will battle for the silverware over last year’s Ryder Cup course.

For Drew, a 46-year-old company director, the tournament marks his biggest day’s golf in more than 15 years playing the sport.

He will be partnering Marshall during the first part of a double header which will see the PGA Professional tee up in the PGA Pro-Captain Challenge with Ravi Patel in November.

“He’s a good player and was giving me lots of advice during our round in the regional final,” Drew said of his partner.

“We’re confident we can do well, and I guess for him that will have only been boosted during his win last week.

“Although we haven’t had much chance to play together, we have practiced individually so hopefully we can go in and do well.

“I’m definitely going there to enjoy the experience and take it all in though, anything we can do beyond that will be a bonus.”

Drew, a lifelong Millwall fan, has been a member at the Addington for the last four years.

“I just started out with a few friends playing casually and everything progressed from there,” he explained.

“I’d never really won anything before until the club qualifier for this event earlier this year.

“My other big hobby is my football but I had to give up my season ticket at Millwall last year when we got relegated as my six-year-old son was getting too upset watching us lose every week!

“So now golf is my main hobby and something that I really love doing, I make sure I’m out on the course at least once a week.”