Varney bets on Brady to light up Fourball

Five years ago a Tony Varney victory denied Sean Brady a trip to Las Vegas but now the duo will team up in a bid to secure a place in the Golfbreaks.com PGA Fourball Championship final.

The pair first met when they went head-to-head during the PGA National Pro-Am regional final at Thorpeness when Dunston Hall’s Brady was still an amateur and the prize at stake was a place in the final in Nevada.

But despite the healthy competition on the course the pair struck up a lasting friendship and will now tee up together as they bid to reach the £33,000 final, which is supported by BMW and SkyCaddie, at Carden Park.

To do so they will need to finish among the front-runners in a qualifier at Bush Hill Park on June 14.

And Varney, an experienced teaching professional, is confident the duo can be in the mix.

“Sean’s not been a pro very long but he’s a good striker of the ball and has been playing a lot recently,” he explained.

“I think we’ll complement each other well. Hopefully I can use my experience and my time as a teaching pro to talk him round.

“Like a lot of the younger guys he can be a little bit aggressive out there so I’ll be telling him when he might be better off playing it safe – it could be the difference between making par or coming away with a triple bogey.

“In my eyes when you’ve got the ability that Sean, below, has got there is no doubt you should be going out there and competing.”

Varney himself has taken a back seat when it comes to playing over the last few years in an effort to focus primarily on his role as a teaching professional at Bawburgh Golf Club.

“I really enjoy teaching,” he explained. “It’s rewarding to see someone you’ve worked with develop their game and sometimes even go on to play at a good level.

“I think some of that experience will help in the qualifier, especially as Sean is still a young pro.

We’ll be relying on Sean to make birdies out there, he’s a better player than me, but most of all we’ll be looking to go out there and enjoy it.”

Other players competing in the regional qualifier include: Darren Charlton (Dunstable Downs) and Alex White (Romiley), Ben Goodey (Manor of Groves) and James Johnstone (Canons Brook), Kieran James (North Circular) and Daniel Fickling (Bush Hill Park), Ryan Pudney (Mundesley) and Charlie Bright (Sheringham) and Mark Smith and Tyler Wink (Totally Golf Store).