Chance to get up close and learn at De Vere Slaley Hall
THE final of the Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship tees off at De Vere Slaley Hall on Tuesday with home club contender Steve McNally explaining why there is a buzz about the tournament.
He said: “Most spectators, however occasional a golfer, want to improve their game and they can learn a great deal from watching this event.”
In terms of national title winners from the North East and Cumbria, the star turn is Craig Goodfellow, the only man in history to have done the double of both this championship and the PGA Assistants tournament.
Goodfellow, who represents Penrith Driving Range, is also a PGA Cup player having competed in the “Mini Ryder Cup” which pits the clubs pros of Great Britain and Ireland against those of America.
Only a shade behind Goodfellow is Jonathan Lupton of Close House, The Journal’s personable Dr Jonathan who has captured two national assistants titles and, as an amateur, won the English and Welsh Amateur Strokeplay Championships.
Lupton’s column this week (far left) provides readers with an insight into his preparation plus an invitation to say hello to him if you go to Slaley on any of the four days to watch the Peugeot-supported tournament on the Hunting course!
Slaley’s McNally was the highest-placed player from the region in last year’s PGA Seniors Championship on the Hunting, grittily battling through the rain-lashed event to finish in a tie for 13th place.
“Jonathan has highlighted the attraction to spectators of this tournament well by extending that invitation,” said McNally. “I reckon all the field think the same way.
“There are many talented players involved who are fiercely competitive and there are places at stake for when the PGA Cup is also played at Slaley in September – a first for the North East.
“There is also a prize money fund of £78,000 next week so no spectator is going to indulge in chat or banter with a player at the wrong moment.
“But these guys play regularly alongside amateurs in the regional Pro-Ams, so they are used to mixing with all standards of golfers.
“This will be nothing like the European Tour where you can’t get close to the players because of the crowds – even if you were allowed inside the ropes.”
Brought up in Jarrow, McNally is the former Burgham Park head professional and the ex-golf pro at Boldon and Catterick. He added: “At Slaley you’ll be able to see what club a good pro selects for different shots plus how they manage the course and read the greens – and it’s free to get in!
“Between them our pros will also know thousands of golfers in the region personally and there’s nothing like going to a good tournament to support somebody you can have some rapport with on the way round.”
Also in the field are another PGA Cup man, Eaglescliffe’s Graeme Bell, a top Europro Tour player in George Cowan from Westerhope and David Clark (Morpeth), a major winner on the PGA North Region circuit.
Brampton’s James Wilkinson and Gregg Tarplee (Parklands) are others who have fought their way to the final through qualifying.
Defending champion Gareth Wright, a Welsh-born Scottish player from Weston Linton, said: “I’m very excited about it.
“I think the Hunting is the sort of course that suits my eye. It’s nice and long and it’ll be great preparation to play the same course that is being used for the PGA Cup.”
McNally, meanwhile, tees off today in the 2013 PGA Seniors Championship, as do Bell and Matfen Hall’s John Harrison, who are in the same group.
Following a succession of jinxed dates blighted by bad weather the Senior Tour has switched the event between De Vere venues, from Slaley to Mottram Hall in Cheshire.
The North East and Cumbria pros on the European Tour – Graeme Storm, Gary Lockerbie and Chris Paisley – play the Lyoness Open at Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg, Austria.
The field includes former world tennis number one Yevgeny Kafelnikov. The Russian, who won the 1996 French Open and 1999 Australian Open, also competed last year, shooting rounds of 75 and 77 to miss the cut by seven shots.
That was a massive improvement on his debut in the 2008 Russian Open, where he missed the cut by 27 shots after rounds of 89 and 80.