Graham has plenty to crow about at Haggs Castle

Crow Wood Golf Club reached their second final of the year when they won the Golfplan Insurance PGA-Pro Captain Challenge qualifier at Haggs Castle.

Captain Alex Paton, left, partnered the Glasgow club’s professional Ian Graham who took part in the PGA National Pro-Am Championship Final at Gleneagles just two days earlier.

And he and Paton booked their trip to Turkey when they won by two shots ahead of Kenny Hutton  and Bob Ferrier (Downfield Golf Club); Andrew Sowerby and Duncan Miller  (Penrith Golf Club) and Stuart Morrison and Ewan Forrest (Tain Golf Club).

Graham and Paton carded an eight under par round of 64 to earn a place in the £25,000 showpiece final to be held at the PGA Sultan Course at Antalya Golf Club in Turkey from November 25-26.

But Paton - nicknamed “Flash’ at Crow Wood where he has been a member since he was 11 - did not know what was at stake

“I didn’t realise we’d be going to play at a final in Turkey,” he smiled.

“I just thought it was a regular competition and maybe there’d be a golf bag for the winners!

“Then at the end they told me where we were going and I still didn’t believe them.

“Now I know and it’s a fantastic trip.”

Five handicapper Paton, aged 46, and a managing director for a tiling contracting company, admitted Graham’s two final appearances are well timed.

“It’s been a difficult few years for the club but we’ve come through it,” he said.

“But Ian getting to the final of tournaments like this can only help the club.”

The pair made a shaky start, with a birdie at the first hole before bogeying the second.

But they did not look back after that with five birdies on the back nine sealing their place at top of the leaderboard.

Graham admitted that playing 36 holes at Gleneagles 48 hours earlier had helped.

“It was good to do that, I felt a lot more confident at this event and knew what sort of score to aim for,” he explained.

“I’m getting delighted to get to two finals this year, it makes for a busy time but I’m happy with that.”