KEVIN Booth held his nerve to secure a one stroke victory over Ryan Coy to clinch his first Bromsgrove Golf Club Championship title.
In a rain-affected two days. Booth was tied with Andy Diston and two shots ahead of Coy, Nathan Grant, Simon Westwick and Seth Leher after making a first round 70.
As many of the contenders fell away over the front nine on Sunday, Booth held a two shot lead with nine holes to play. And he sealed his victory with a par at the final hole to clinch the title with a round of 74.
Coy (72, 73, 145) claimed the runners up spot ahead of Grant (72,76, 148) and Leher (72, 77, 149), while Lee Tynan, Westwick and Diston all finished with a total score of 150.
The nett title went to Callum Fisher (63, 60, 123), who had led Jake Pollard by one shot after the first round.
Jake (64, 70, 134) fell away in the second round to finish third with Graham Routledge (66, 68, 134) taking the runners up spot on count back. Shaun Bowen and Coy (both 67, 68, 135) were the only other players to break the par score of 136 for the Championship.
The entry of 110 competitors, including 25 making their first appearance, faced a tough challenge over the weekend on a course in good condition.
Saturday started off with steady rain falling but this cleared as the morning’s play progressed. The afternoon started hot and humid but nobody was expecting the severity of the thunder storm that followed with play being abandoned for the day at 3pm with over forty players left to complete their first rounds.
Significant work was carried out on the back nine of the course on the Saturday evening and at 6am on the Sunday morning a group of volunteers set about restoring the condition of the bunkers with the first rounds play recommencing at 8am. Despite the disruption, a record fifteen players broke par for the opening round.
There were also difficult conditions on Sunday as players struggled in the wind. Only Fisher, Jim Mildner (nett 65) and Joe Colebrook (net 67) broke par for the second round.
Ian Barber, competition co-coordinator along with Derek Mace and Geoff Forrester, said: “We would just like to say thanks to the proprietors for their support, the green staff for presenting the course in such good condition after a difficult growing season.
“The members of the competition committee for ensuring the championship ran smoothly and all the players for participating and making it such a memorable weekend.
“And finally and most important of all, a massive thanks to the members who sacrificed their time and competition chances on Saturday evening and first thing Sunday morning to get the course playable following the storm and ensure that this year’s Club Championship was a success.”
