Will Wright and James Ollington of Aldeburgh won the McLeod Cup as Suffolk Amateur Foursomes champions at Halesworth.
Their steady rounds of 72 and 74 were good enough to overhaul Rushmere’s Josh Cottrell and Connor James by one shot after trailing by four at lunch. The Rushmere pair had to settle for the Watts Salvers.
Wright, who won the trophy with Dave Quinney 10 years ago, and Ollington were five under par for the four par five holes in their first round when they had three birdies and an eagle.
Diss county players James Biggs and Chris Bartrum had won this trophy for the past four years. Biggs was playing in national events in Hampshire and, although he did not win, he had a second round of 63 in the Selborne Salver at Blackmoor.
Bartrum’s new partnership with Chris Vince of Haverhill got off to a slow start with 81. In the second round their vastly improved score of 71 was second only to Ben Sayers of Felixstowe and Josh Robertson who were also out of contention after 80 in the morning but hit back with 70 in the afternoon.
Gorleston junior Jack Butcher and Brendan Gough took third place with rounds of 74 and 75. The young Bury St Edmunds pair of Ben Aves and Max Adams were four shots behind the winners.
The senior championship went to Steve Mann and Adrian Studd of Woodbridge by two shots from Stephen Whymark and Roger Taylor.
It was bitterly cold in the morning and no fun for referees on buggies.
Had a bookmaker been present there would have been several short-priced pairings that fell by the wayside.
Russell Rayner and Marc Duszynski of Ipswich won the handicap prize on count back from Ross Howard and Ricky Ling of Rushmere.
The Halesworth course was in splendid condition with a new feature. What used to be a pond is now lake with a fountain to be put in soon and fish to be introduced.
How tempting it would be to make the 18th hole finish with a shot over the water to where the putting green is now placed.
Gross scores
146: W Wright and J Ollington (Aldeburgh) 72 74 (McLeod Cup).
147: J Cottrell and C James (Rushmere) 68 79 (Watts Salvers).
149: J Butcher and B Gough (Gorleston) 74 75.
150: B Sayers (Felixstowe Ferry) and J Robertson (Ufford Park) 80 70; M Adams and B Aves (Bury St Edmunds) 75 75.
152: A Cunningham and A Gee (Bury St Edmunds) 73 79; C Bartrum (Diss) and C Vince (Haverhill) 81 71; S Crosby and D Western (Gorleston) 79 73; J Johnson (Ipswich) and C Taylor (Diss) 75 77.
152: R Rayner and M Duszynski (Ipswich) 77 75; R Howard and R Ling (Rushmere) 74 78.
153: S Byford (Ipswich) and J Seeley (Newton Green) 76 77. J Reiss and J Wybar (Aldeburgh) 74 79.
154: S Mann and A Studd (Woodbridge) 80 74 (senior champions); B Coleman and T Titcombe (Bury St Edmunds) 80 74; A Sheldrake (Felixstowe Ferry) and G Fricker (Ufford Park) 74 80; J Jones and A Meredith (Hintlesham) 78 76.
155: J Chadd and B Leuty (Gorleston) 75 80; A Taylor (Bungay) and R Palmer (Southwold) 76 79.
156: A Middle and P Robinson (Rushmere) 78 78; R Taylor (Aldeburgh) and S Whymark (Woodbridge) 78 78.
157: J Ford and G Maynard (Southwold) 78 79; C Fleming and J Tyler (Ipswich) 77 80.
158: P Coby and W McIntosh (Halesworth) 77 81.
159: T Fowler (Ipswich) and T Ayles (Woodbridge) 80 79; G Hills (Felixstowe Ferry) and R Oakey (Newton Green) 82 77.
160: M and T Weaver (Bury St Edmunds) 75 85; R Foreman and M Ford (Thorpeness) 78 82; J Driver and M Closs (Diss) 77 83.
161: G Shillings and M Coby (Halesworth) 79 82.
162: T Hall (Bury St Edmunds) and B Newman (Rookery Park) 79 83; N Robson and M Olding (Aldeburgh) 76 86; S Debenham (Hintlesham) and J Finch (Woodbridge) 82 80.
163: D Bright (Gorleston) and J Millard (Bury St Edmunds) 83 80; R and J Nicholson (Bury St Edmunds) 79 84..
164: A Whittaker and M Jackson (Woodbridge) 82 82; C Weller and P Wright (Diss) 80 84; S Bearman (Newton Green) and K Brooks (Hintlesham) 81 83.
165: D Rosser and L Cleland (Ufford Park) 78 87; J Harrison and J West (Woodbridge) 85 80; P Buckle and R Spore (Stowmarket) 81 84; Z Fryer (Aldeburgh Artisans) and L Staff (Thorpeness) 83 82.
166: R Dzierozynski and S Coonan (Woodbridge) 82 84; T Hellyer and K Tarrant (Hintlesham) 85 81.
167: A Crisp (Halesworth) and B Richardson (Gorleston) 84 83.
169: C Ginn and D Barton (Woodbridge) 86 83; D Matter and N Salmon (Bury St Edmunds) 84 85.
170: M Penman and A Shepherd (Ipswich) 83 87; R Clemson and J Hellyer (Hintlesham) 90 80.
173: P Sherwood and W Jacques (Halesworth) 85 88.
175: D Reid and R Pearce (Woodbridge) 86 89.
177: H Hodgson and T Crisp (Woodbridge) 92 85.
- Richard Smith, the newly-appointed head professional at Southwold, shared the honours with Will Farley of Rushmere in the Suffolk PGA Winter League meeting at Royal Worlington.
Both players had rounds of two over par 72.
It was a close finish with Lawrence Dodd (Culford Academy) and Neil Mitchell (Ipswich Golf Range) with 73.
Fifth place went to Kelvin Vince (Rushmere) with 74.
Smith joined Southwold from Trentham Golf Club in the Midlands Region.
- Jamie Abbott (Ipswich) finished joint fifth in the Jamega Tour event over the Downs course at Goodwood. He has rounds of 70 and 73 to finish one under par. He is preparing for his Challenge Tour visit to Turkey at the end of the month.
The annual East Region pro-am in Vilamoura on The Algarve was won by Jason Levermore (Little Channels). He had rounds of 68 on the Old Course, 74 over Pinhal and 72 in his final round at the Millennium.
Calvin Sherwood (Rookery Park) and Paul Waring (Felixstowe Ferry) play in the PGA Europro final qualifier at Frilford Heath this week.
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