Paul Streeter Banks a Win on The Rothschild

As a warm up for the main event Mentmore Golf and CC hosted their bi-annual Pro Am on the Rothschild course. The main sponsor was again Greenfleets the Vehicle Leasing Specialists.

We had excellent weather for the Pro-am with long sunny spells and a course in great condition considering the weather of late. The leading professional in the pro-am was Lee Corfield who shot a fine 5 under par 67 to win by a shot from Martin Sell, Ryan Newman and Tom Haylock.

The whole day was a great success thanks to Greenfleets, Mentmore Golf and CC and DreamFlight the charity who fly seriously ill and disabled children to Disney in the USA once a year for the holiday of a lifetime. Log onto www.dreamflight.org to find out more.

Day 1 of the main tournament was greeted by Jamega’s old friend, the rain, which persisted throughout the morning eventually giving way to a bright but blustery afternoon.

Despite the weather variations the scoring was of very high quality with Nick Brennan, and the eventual winner Paul Streeter, heading the race on 5 under par. They however had Paul Maddy and Michael Moore on their coat tails in hot pursuit on 4 under par.

The chasing pack of 5 players on 3 under par was made up of Lee Corfield, Adam Runcie, Chris Parsons, Charlie Burke and Yasin Ali. A large group of some 6 players on 2 under par, including last weeks winner Steve Surry, lay in wait hoping for a slip by the leaders on the second day.

Day 2, well the rain returned and without the considerable expertise of Course manager, Danny - and his team, we would not have been able to start on time. However we did start at 7am and play continued un-interrupted until the early afternoon when we were treated to a thunder and lightening display which fortunately only lasted a short while until play was resumed.

The lightening certainly energised Simon Lilly who scorched around the Rothschild course in an incredible 8 under par 64 which propelled him through the field to sit on top of the Leaderboard at 7 under par. Lilly was left to contemplate “what might have been” except for the 1 over par 73 he had on the first day.

Of the leaders, Paul Streeter reached the turn in 32 to put him firmly in control on 9 under par with 9 holes to play.

Paul Maddy was Streeter’s only real challenger but even he was falling away and with an even par front nine remained on 4 under par for the tournament and 5 behind.

Steeter then bogied ten and eleven to give Maddy a sniff and Lilly some hope of at least a play-off. Streeter however steadied the ship with 4 birdies in the next 6 holes to more or less close out the tournament when he reached 11 under par.

Maddy also made a little charge with a birdie, birdie, eagle run to get to 8 under par with 2 to go. Streeter managed to keep his cool and although dropping a shot at the difficult par 3 last, posted the winning score of 10 under par.

Maddy was now playing for second place and needed to par the 18th to make certain of second place on his own. However, it was not to be and a bogey saw him slip back into a tie for second place with a delighted Simon Lilly.

So Paul Streeter was the winner of a handsome cheque for £6,000 and a huge boost of confidence for the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth next week.

We would like to wish him and all the other Jamega Tour players in this great Championship the very best of luck.

Simon Lilly and Paul Maddy had consolation cheques for £2,375 each to enjoy for their joint second place that was achieved in very different ways.

We would like to congratulate all of those involved in the successful completion of the tournament especially the redoubtable Sue, who stood out in all weather conditions for 8 hours a day for 2 days ball spotting for us. Val, who also endured some awful weather, helped Sue in her spotting role.

Mentmore is one of our favourite stops on tour with 2 fabulous courses to choose from and hospitality that knows no bounds it is a must for golfers of all standards to visit and enjoy.

Next week we are at The Vale of Pershore International Course near Worcester for 2 days of blistering sunshine!!