Devon County PGA MedalsTeignmouth Golf Club
Thursday 31st January 2008
First Place
69 Paul Hendriksen Fingle Glenn
Equal Second Place
71 Jody Bee (Exminster)
71 Jon Langmead (Exminster)
71 Ashley Moon (Okehampton)
Equal Fifth Place
73 Iain Parker (Royal North Devon)
73 Neil Holman (Torbay Driving Range)
73 Chris Gill (Exeter)
Winner Paul Hendriksen picks up the winners
cheque again from Captain Ashley Moon
Top Devon professionals gathered at Teignmouth golf club this Thursday 31st January, for their 8th event of the winter order of merit series.
The weather was the main talking point on the day with wind gusting to 50 MPH accompanied by driving rain for the early starters. This was not a day for the faint hearted. It was remarkable to even contemplate playing but our Devon pros are made of stern stuff!!
The golf course was, considering the weather, in great condition, and a big thanks was due to everyone at Teignmouth for staging the event.
The winning score on the day was a remarkable 69 from Fingle Glenn's Paul Hendriksen. The weather can't get bad enough for Paul!! His determination and skill to keep a good round going in such testing conditions does him great credit. He becomes the first double winner of the season having won the previous event at Yelverton in similar testing conditions. He puts his success down to all the work he has done over the winter on his short game and fitness which includes a lot of stretching and flexibility work. He commented ' Its all about staying positive in these conditions'. A lesson we all can learn from.
Tied in second place were two Exminster players Jody Bee & Jon Langmead. They were joined by Okehampton professional Ashley Moon. All three had to rely on some good work around the green to keep their score going as it was nearly impossible to hit many of the greens in regulation. The ferocious wind was blowing directly across many of the holes, which meant that players had to be able to shape their approach shots on most of the holes, just to keep the ball in play.
In a tie for 5th place were experienced duo Iain Parker and Neil Holman. Neil finished disappointingly with bogeys on the last 2 holes. They were joined by Exeter's ever consistent Chris Gill.
The race at the top of the order of merit is incredibly close this season with only 12 points separating the top six players. The lead has changed hands again with Paul Hendrickson claiming top spot by the narrowest of margins. Only 2.8 points separate him from Sean Mason at the top with Neil Holman, Ashley Moon & Jody Bee only a few more points behind. This seasons order of merit is shaping up to be the best for many years and looks destined to go to the final event of the season.
Ashley thanked everybody at Teignmouth for their hospitality on the day with particular praise for the green keeping team who did an excellent job in the most testing of conditions.
After the event the pros held their AGM and this years captain Ashley Moon handed over the reigns to Iain Parker from Royal North Devon.
Ashley Moon's report on his year in office will follow next week.And over the next twelve months expect a comment or two from the new Captain.....!
One presentation at the AGM was the Peter Ward trophy which is presented annually to the best assistant in training in the county. This award went to Dan Wood of Royal North Devon, Dan has displayed an exceptional level of dedication over the last 2 seasons and is starting to shape up to be a really good golfer. He is due to sit his final PGA exams this April and everyone in the Devon PGA wishes him success in the future.
