West Hill’s David Osborn and his amateur partner Wez Davies played the three different nines of the Prince’s layout in just 102 shots, winning the PGA Prince’s 27 by one stroke.
Defying convention that modern golf takes too much time, 48 pairings of PGA Professionals and their amateur partners started from the full length championship tees at 08:45 on the Shore nine playing foursomes, then on to the Dunes nine playing greensomes and finally the Himalayas nine playing four ball better ball.
When play had been completed by 15:30, it was the pairing of Osborn and Davies that emerged victorious, edging out the cards of 103 of two other pairs, PGolfCoaching@Pedham’s Tim Milford and his amateur partner Eamonn Al-Rifai and Romsey’s Elliot Groves and his partner Tom Fowler.
Recently celebrating his 40th birthday, Osborn took home the professional winner’s cheque for £550 and was full of praise for the innovative event, saying: “This event celebrates golf in its various pairing formats, and out of the three we played today, it’s impossible to say which I enjoyed the most. On top of that, I love playing links golf and we got to play on all three nines of one of the Open Championship qualifying courses.”
For Osborn, the event marked his second win of the season and one he was delighted to win, adding: “Thanks to The PGA in England (South), this innovative format and event brings professionals and amateurs together to play golf in a completely innovative way, and it’s clear that everyone really enjoyed playing the less usual formats of foursomes and especially greensomes – although it can get tricky remembering who’s supposed to be playing the next shot! - as well as four ball better ball.”
He continued: “This event also acts as a great way to showcase Prince’s, which thanks to its owners has evolved into a fantastic place to stay and play golf. All 96 players had a terrific time today, so on their behalf I’d like to express our thanks to the team running Prince’s, which as usual was in top class condition. Here’s to next year’s PGA Prince’s 27!”