Cornwall duo say Lombard Trophy success ’unreal’
CORNWALL golfers Richard O’Hanlon and Andy Jones have singled out their close friendship as one of the biggest reasons behind their Lombard Trophy final victory at Gleneagles.
St Kew PGA professional O’Hanlon and his amateur partner Jones hit form over the resort’s King’s Course to finish the championship with a sensational 20-under-par score to claim the title in Europe’s largest pro-am.
INCREDIBLE
A 17-handicapper, Jones was delighted to play his part.
He said: “The whole occasion has been unreal. To come to Gleneagles and not only play, but win, has been incredible. I never expected this, the whole experience has been something else, it’s been a really good trip.”
For O’Hanlon, the win was a reward for the hard work he has been putting in on the practice ground since his move to St Kew earlier this year. He had never made it through the regional finals before this year and reaching the final was something he had been aiming to put right.
“For me, this is the biggest event on the PGA calendar, and to win it is really special,” he said. “I’ve been lucky to play in a lot of big events in my career, including the PGA Pro-Captain Challenge last year, but this achievement is up there with the best.
STRENGTH
“I think the key for us is that we get on really well, so we dovetailed well and made plenty of birdies. But the strength of the competition really showed. We kept on hitting a birdie, asking how many we were ahead, and then finding out we hadn’t made any shots at all on the pairs behind us.
“But we made it in the end, and it was a real relief when we holed out on the 18th green.”
Hart Common’s Terry Battersby joined his club’s PGA professional, Steve Parry, at Gleneagles as the pair finished one shot behind O’Hanlon and Jones, despite their best-of-the day final round of 59.
“It’s all about teamwork in an event like this and we were definitely good at that,” explained Battersby.
“To come to Gleneagles and play on a course like this is definitely a big highlight and to play as well as we did and finish in the top two has been amazing.”
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