Woodbridge claims maiden OOM victory
15/05/2017
Bearwood Lakes’ Martin Woodbridge cruised to victory at The Oxfordshire in spectacular style, winning his first Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit event by three strokes with a score of nine-under-par 135. The winner’s cheque for £2,000 will also help his - and his new fiancee’s - plans for the future, as they got engaged just a week ago.
In the runner up spot with 6-under-par was last year’s Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit champion Adam Wootton (Oxford Golf Centre) with two 69s, tied with Elliot Groves (Romsey) who shot cards of 68 and 70. Pushed back into a three way tie on 139 were the trio of Chris Gane (LeftHandedGolf@Silvermere), Lewis Atkinson (Gerrards Cross) and former champion James Ablett (Lee-on-the-Solent).
The Oxfordshire was where Woodbridge trained and became a PGA Professional, so he was the first to underline the importance of local knowledge, as he explained: “While I played really well in the first round and set up lots of birdie putts with almost regulation play, I missed quite a few greens in the second round. But having played here many times, I knew where to allow for those shots that proved to be less than perfect!”
He continued: “It’s all very unexpected, as I was away on holiday last week and I got engaged, so to be honest I wasn’t really thinking about this event even when I was on the first tee yesterday! In the first round my game was spot on and my putting was pretty hot, in fact I had one of my best rounds ever. I set myself up with lots of opportunities and made plenty of birdie putts.”
In fact Woodbridge made seven birdies on his way to a class leading six-under-par 66 to lead by just one shot from Sittingbourne’s Peter Appleyard. Undaunted by past final round experiences and buoyed up by some recent mentoring with David McKenzie and his Golf State of Mind training, Woodbridge stayed focused and played aggressively rather than trying to go defensive.
Woodbridge summarised: “The second round was, not too surprisingly, a bit different in various ways, but my putting was still hot and I made several up and downs to save some pars.” Out in four-under and -10 for the tournament, Woodbridge stayed calm and despite running up three dropped shots, made birdies at the 12th and 17th to finish with a nine-under-par 69, more than good enough to claim his first Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit title.
