Trio set the pace and the standard at Ingrebourne Links

04/08/2020

It was a case of three’s company at the top of the leaderboard following round one of the PGA East region’s first Order of Merit of the season at Ingrebourne Links.

Seasoned campaigners Glen Portelli and Mark Talbott (above) plus 26-year-old Nicholas Cains set the pace in pursuit of the £3,200 first prize with two-under-par rounds of 70.

That left them two shots clear of the field but, while their scores were identical, the way each member of the trio accumulated them contrasted sharply.

Old Fold Manor’s Portelli, for example, was indebted to a birdie blitz at the end of his round.

Having gone one-over after recording his third bogey at the par three 11^th, he atoned with three birdies in the final four holes.

By contrast, Talbott, who is attached to Thorpe Hall Golf Club, was left to rue a low-key end to his negotiation of the 7,000-plus yards cousre after enjoying a purple patch in the middle.

Five birdies in six holes from seven to 12 took him to four-under before successive birdies at 13 and 14 checked his progress.

Meanwhile Cains, who has recently been appointed head PGA Professional at Swaffham Golf Club, recovered from an inauspicious start to keep pace with the more experienced pacemakers.

Birdies at three, five and 11 more than made amends for a bogey at the first, as did another at 16 following a slip-up at 15, a 634-yard monster made even more challenging by a headwind.

In addition to sharing the lead, the trio were the only members of the 69-strong field to break par on a youthful ‘inland links’ course designed by PGA Master Professional Alan Walker.

Two shots behind on level-par is another threesome comprising Bedford and County Golf Club’s Nicholas Cunningham, Simon Khan of Marriott Hanbury Manor, and Abridge Golf and Country Club’s Jack Winer.

Khan, who won the pre-tournament par three competition, is a former BMW PGA Championship victor, and Winer has been party to victory in the PGA Fourball Championship for the past two seasons.

The chasing pack also includes Jason Levermore and Rob Coles on two and three-over respectively and, with just five shots spanning almost half of the remaining field at the halfway point, there is much to play for on day two.

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