Duo Tie In Heydon Grange Pro-Am - 16/02/2008

THIRTY professionals and teams contested the Sky Sports International Pro-Am at Heydon Grange on Tuesday.

Of the 30-strong professional field, 15 players broke par in their warm-up for the PGA EuroPro Tour event, which begins on Thursday.

Local boy Russell Claydon and Australian Daniel Gaunt (pictured)  tied for first in the individual strokeplay event after shooting six-under-par rounds of 66.

In his winners' speech, Claydon commented: "The course was even better than last year.

"With the addition of three new tees has improved the quality of the course further."

Tied for third place were Scot Colin Mitchell and Australian Nick Dastey, who hit 67, with Phil Worthington alone in fifth place on -4.

In the team event there was a tie for first place on 88 points, with Brewing Research amateurs Mark Kierstan, John Nye and John Chisholm the eventual victors.

Playing with professional John Wade, who currently heads the PGA EuroPro Tour Order of Merit, they took victory after a card play-off.

Beaten on the card play-off were Elms of Cambridge, who have provided the new BMW One Series which is on offer for any player who hits a hole-in-one on the final day. Richard Stokes, Gordon Shaw and James Kivlin were joined by Claydon as their professional.

The Pro-Am coincided with the opening of the new driving range and golf academy, which brought impressive reviews from the players.