Devon Features

Devon Fourball Championships

Monday 18th October 2010
Bovey Castle

1st Place
61 (-9) Ashley Moon (Okehampton) & Iain Parker (RND)
2nd Place
64 Kevin Harper, Sidmouth and Ben Thorne, East Devon
3rd Place
65 Sean Mason and Chris Gill, Exeter
Equal 4th Place
67 Dan and Paul Hendriksen, Teign Valley and Churston
67 Ben Martin, Hele Park and Ben Hiscok, Torquay

Champions again, Iain Parker & Ashley Moon

The popular fourball Championship returned to the magnificent setting of Bovey Castle, it is one of the jewels of South West Golf and ranks in the top 100 courses in the UK. The event was organised by home club Professional Richard Lewis and he and the greenkeeping team, made sure that the course was presented in superb condition.

There was a blustery wind which made club selection tricky and with the course improvements which are continuing this winter, with the addition of new bunkering and fairway contouring, the course presented a tough challenge.

There were several strong pairings as usual, but the winning score was a remarkable 9 under par 61 from Ashley Moon and Iain Parker, the pair who had won the previous two Devon Fourballs at Bovey, so this success made it a hat trick of wins. They obviously love the course and the format, they feel the good vibes start as soon as they drive through the gates.

Moon was `in the zone` early and he started as he meant to go on, with a drive, chip, and putt birdie on the first. He was in imperious form over the first 6 holes and anything looked possible, as he added two more birdies on the front nine. Parker, who was struggling with a niggling back, finally loosened up, and contributed a couple of crucial pars on the tough 7th and 8th holes, which kept the momentum flowing.

Moon then birdied the downwind par 5 10th and when Parker hit his `shot of the day` a rescue club to 6ft for birdie, which felt like an eagle, on the tough par 4 11th, it looked like a sub 60 score was possible. Both drove the downwind 345yd 13th but two three putts followed, this looked to have stopped the run, but Moon had other ideas, and smashed a drive into the wind to 20ft on the short par 4 14th for an easy birdie.

The secret to successful fourball golf is to dovetail, and the pair did this brilliantly throughout the round, Parker adding a further birdie on 16, then finally on 18, where Moon hit an amazing recovery shot which summed up his day, a `towering` blind 7 iron to within 2 ft of the pin to finish the round as he started.

The pair commented "We know each other`s game so well and seem to bring the best out of each other in this format." Both are now thinking of joining Bovey as members!

In second place were Kevin Harper and Ben Thorne, their 64 could have been even better as they left a couple of putts on the lip. Harper is in superb form this season and is the `hottest` PGA assistant in England at the moment, he heads out to Australia today to represent the UK, in a major international assistants tournament there. He is also preparing for the Second stage of Tour School next month, and if he continues in this sort of form, could make the step up to the very top of the game.

It was also great to see Christian Vine making his playing comeback, after his horrific car accident last year, all the pro`s were delighted to welcome him back.

Sean Mason, Devon PGA Secretary, thanked everybody at the Club for hosting the event and looked forward to returning in future years.

Lager top & real ale, the fuel for birdies!!