Graham breaks Morpeth course record before winning the final Northumberland event of the season
Morpeth’s Phil Graham enjoyed the best fortnight of his golfing career as he broke the course record at his home club before going on to win his first county title at Bedlington.
Graham, who is county development office for England Golf in Durham, blew away the field in the Fenwick-Smith Trophy at Bedlington with rounds of 70 and 74 to win by seven shots from Andrew Minnikin and Kev Beaney.
He said: “I was very confident going into the event having played some good golf this summer. In the first round I got off to a flyer with an eagle and a birdie in the first two holes and finished three under-par.
“The weather really deteriorated in the afternoon and I played some more good golf to get to four under-par through 11 holes of the second round. I had a bit of a disaster coming home with a double and treble-bogey in the worst of the rain but had built a good enough lead to get over the line.”
The win followed a new course record 65 at Morpeth the previous week, where Graham has been working with PGA professional David Clark.
“To get my first county win is a great feeling having put in some work earlier this season with David – who deserves a lot of credit.
“My golf has been solid and I’ve been delighted with how I’ve played, coming down from one to plus-one,” he added.