It was certainly an interesting end to Willow Valley’s 13-year spell of hosting the Yorkshire PGA Championship.
Professionals travelled from all over Yorkshire to take part, some with complicated warm-up gadgets. One had a four-foot length of plastic soil pipe more commonly seen at a builders merchants for 'firming up his leg action'...!
It soon became apparent that the gadgets didn't really help and it was players with a good golfing brain who did best.
The difficulty of the course proved too much for several players who decided 11 holes was as far as they could manage before they retired to the clubhouse. Others managed 18 holes and retired with a sudden bout of 'back trouble'.
Fortunately, there were enough brave professionals who embraced the challenge of a championship course and Willow Valley themselves had five players in the field, all of whom completed.
The tournament had to be reduced to 29 holes. That apart, the Championship was again a great success as home player Wayne Pendlebury carded a first round of 76 which saw him as one of the first round leaders. He battled on in the afternoon but 54 saw him slip away.
Another Willow Valley pro, Lee Morrisroe, was round in 77 and his subsequent 49 saw him move up towards the top 10. Willow Valley's other hopefuls battled hard with Neil McBride shooting 79 + 53, Niall Murphy 80 + 50 and Darren Rands 87 + 49.
Gareth Davies from Abbeydale posted an 118 (+2) after scores of 75 + 43 to win.
