Tight at the top at Tewkesbury Park

The leaderboard after the first round of the PGA Super 60s Championship at Tewkesbury Park bore more than a passing resemblance to the nose to tail stream of vehicles heading for the west country hot spots on the nearby M5 motorway.

Four points spanned the top dozen duos of which PGA pros Glyn Krause (above) and David Finch plus their respective amateur sidekicks Terry Toyne and Jeff Laywood were the pacemakers.

Both pairs amassed 46 points in the Stableford betterball format to establish a one-point lead over the 70-strong field in the chase for the £1,250 first prize.

Inevitably their negotiations of a course in superb condition were similar: both recorded eight birdies but Krause and Toyne shaded the eagle count with two. A solitary bogey at the par-three 16^th, however, accounted for the two pairs sharing pole position.

That is a familiar berth for Krause who, now representing Derby Golf Centre, won the tournament on what was then the home territory of Wollaton Park, Nottingham, in 2018.

By contrast, Finch, who is attached to Lilley Brook Golf Club in neighbouring Cheltenham, is making his debut in the competition.

Meanwhile, Stephen Bennett, the defending champion by virtue of his victory at Leeds Golf Centre in 2019 and the cancellation of last year’s event because of Covid 19, is six points off the pace. He and his amateur partner are one of nine pairs tied 17^th, a band that includes former PGA Captain Peter Hanna.

Other previous winners competing are John Lower, Bob Cameron, Murray White and Iain Clark.

Clark is also a former winner of the Superb 70s Championship, the tournament within a tournament for PGA Members and an amateur partner, both aged 70 or more. He won at Wollaton Park in 2018 but is currently trails the competition’s leading pair, PGA pro Tom Melville and Jim Kinloch by seven points.

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