Rockliffe Hall pro wins EuroPro Cobra Puma Championship
Rockliffe Hall’s James Maw won the Cobra Puma Golf Championship by two strokes, finishing on 16 under-par, after a final round which included a hole-in-one at Hawkstone Park Golf Club.
The Sheffield golfer, who is based at Rockliffe Hall near Darlington, began the third round as one of four players tied for the lead on 10 under-par and got off to a flyer with an ace at the second.
He stumbled with a bogey at the fifth but put together an outstanding run of five birdies in six holes from the 10th, with some championship-winning putting giving him distance from the field.
By the time Maw (62, 70, 65) played the final hole he was two strokes clear of Curtis Griffiths (Wentworth: 69, 63, 67) and three better than playing partner Chris Lloyd (The Kendleshire: 66, 66, 68).
“I feel very happy, it was about time I won one,” said Maw, who took home £10,000 along with a Motocaddy S1 Lithium trolley, Bushnell Tour X Range Finder and Bolle Sunglasses.
“It was one of those days. When I had the hole-in-one at the second I thought maybe it was my day, and holing putts from everywhere helps as well. I putted well for the nine under-par first round, on Thursday I struggled a little bit in the afternoon and then today I putted very well. I was aggressive – you can be here and some of the scores you have seen this week do show that. If you can putt well, you’ll do well.
“I looked at the leaderboards at every opportunity. I thought somebody might have caught up by the time I got to the ninth so it was nice to see they hadn’t and I could have a go.
“I have had enough bad luck to go against me in final round situations and you do need a little bit of luck on your side.”
Maw climbed to sixth on the Race To Desert Springs order of merit, from which the top five at the end of the season earn a Challenge Tour card. Griffiths climbs to second with his £6,000 runners-up prize, while Billy Hemstock (Teignmouth Golf Club) maintained his top-five position after finishing tied for fifth on 10 under-par at Hawkstone Park.
Matthew Cort (Beedles Lake Golf Club) and Greg Payne (Chobham GC / MindSet4Golf) also consolidated their standings on the tour money list, finishing among those tied for ninth place on eight under-par.
