Josh Grabs Duncan Putter

Celtic Manor's Josh Davies claimed the best win of his career by winning the Duncan Putter at Southerndown golf club, leading the way in a strong Welsh performance.

 

Four of the top eight players were from Wales, with Conwy's Evan Griffiths in third, Llanwern's Owen Edwards and Southerndown's Llew Matthews tied in sixth place.

 

Davies was one of only two players to break seventy on the challenging links course, his round of 69 laying the foundations for victory in tricky conditions. Jamie Bower (Meltham Golf Club), who finished tied eighth, was the only other player to register a 69.

 

Irishman Conor O'Rourke (Nass Golf Club) was a shot back of Davies in second place with Jonathan Thomson (Lindrick Golf Club), and defending champion Jimmy Mullen (Royal North Devon), in tied third.

 

Edwards had gone into the last round with the lead, but his chances slipped away with a closing 82, while a 75 in the last round proved enough for Davies to hold off his challengers.

 

Davis has represented Wales through the age grades, but this was his best senior win - following welsh teenager Tim Harry who won the Duncan Putter two years ago.

 

"Its great to see Josh winning the Duncan Putter, but in some ways it was even more encouraging to see the number of Wales players who were challenging at the top end of the leaderboard," said Golf Union of Wales director of performance Ben Waterhouse.

 

"Following on from our announcement last week of the new Coaching Centres which will act as a focus for our talent development in the future, this result shows there is plenty to build on.

 

" The Duncan Putter always attracts a strong entry of the best players around the UK and Ireland, so such a strong home performance has got to be good. "we look forward to seeing how the Wales players progress from this promising start, with so much to play for this season."

 

The event had a new man at the helm, following the retirement of Southerndown's Chief Executive Alan Hughes in August last year. John Peters under the new title of Director of Golf was orchestrating the proceedings along with the support of many of the members and staff at the club. John has been the head professional at Southerndown since 2011 and has moved into the new post combing both positions.       

 

"The players showed some great resilience in the strong winds over both days. We always set the course up initially to be a good test, but the weather added considerably to the challenge set before them, " said Southerndown's director of golf John Peters.

 

We had a strong entry as always and this lead to a high quality field for the event. Our congratulations to Josh Davies on his victory and to all the players, for their patience and the respectful manor in which they treated the club and members at Southerndown Golf Club."

 

Winner:                        Josh Davies - 291

2nd                              Conor O'Rourke - 292

=3rd                            Evan Griffiths - 294

=3rd                            Jonathan Thomson - 294

=3rd                            Jimmy Mullen - 294

=6th                            Llew Matthews - 296

=6th                            Owen Edwards - 296