Mackman feels Miles better after Frilford Win

At long last a dry tournament came our way, with two glorious days of calm sunny weather and with barely a whisper of wind to rustle the leaves on the delightful Frilford Heath Blue course, we expected some low scoring.

Day one, however, was quite extraordinary with 30 players bettering the par of 72 yet the low round of the day was only a 5 under par 67 that was carded by Miles Mackman and so it was going to be anyone's to win on the second day.

Mackman was being pursued by three previous winners on the tour and who had a wealth of experience behind them, Tom Whitehouse, Adam Runcie and Lee Corfield would be hot on his heels

Not to be discounted from the forthcoming day two battle were Joe Smoothy, Sam Watts, Neil O'Briain and James Ruth who were poised to strike on 3 under par.

The big question for Mackman to answer would come tomorrow when he would see if the dramatic swing changes he has made over the last 6 month's would stand the test of tournament golf under pressure.

The second day dawned and again we were bathed in summer sun that truly brought out the beauty of the spectacular setting that is Frilford Heath.

The day progressed and as the tee times for the leaders approached there was no sign of the leader, Miles Mackman, and with only 15 minutes to go before his tee time he finally appeared, looking very ill indeed after a sleepless night suffering from an attack of food poisoning.

Not sure whether he could play or not Mackman eventually decided to give it a go and a birdie at the first hole was just the tonic he needed to settle his stomach and encourage him to continue.

As the day progressed and challengers began to fall by the wayside Mackman proceeded to the turn in 2 under par to remain one shot clear of his nearest challenger, Adam Runcie, who also reached the turn in the same number.

As the battle continued out on the course the early clubhouse target was set at 4 under par by Tony Piccolo who added a second round 2 under par 70 to his first round total.

Piccolo's lead was however short lived and it was Irelands Neil O'Briain who birdied the last hole to post a possible winning total of 6 under par 138.

O'Briain now had to sit and wait for news from the course where Mackman and Runcie were battling it out for the lead.

By this time Mackman had birdied the twelfth hole to get to 8 under par and establish a 2 shot lead over Runcie and O'Briain but with a difficult finish to come it was still Mackman's to win or lose.

Both Mackman and Runcie bogeyed the difficult fourteenth hole and so Mackman's lead over clubhouse leader O'Briain was now down to just one single shot.

Runcie then birdied the fifteenth to join clubhouse leader O'Briain on 6 under and within one shot of the lead and with Mackman still struggling from the effects of his food poisoning it was still anyone's to win.

The end eventually came in fairly unspectacular fashion with both Mackman and Runcie parring the last 3 holes to leave an exhausted Mackman the winner by a single shot from Runcie and O'Brian who each won £1,750 for tying second.

Mackman just had enough strength left to receive the winner's cheque for £5,000 but not enough to celebrate his first professional win on The Jamega Pro Golf Tour.

As usual Frilford Heath Golf Club provided us with a stunning venue and hospitality to match and with 3 courses to choose from we would thoroughly recommend it to all golfers as an excellent day out.

Next week we are at The Tytherington near Macclesfield on the Tuesday and Wednesday after Open Qualifying which is on the Monday. So why not enter and play one of the best courses on our schedule?