Mark Ridley joined an elite group of golfers including Jim Furyk, Justin Thomas, David Duval and Brandt Snedeker by returning a score of 59 in the Bamburgh Castle Pro Am.
Ridley’s nine under-par round at Bamburgh featured birdies at the par three first, four consecutive birdies from the third to the sixth, a birdie at the par three 14th and three consecutive birdies to finish his round. He said: “I got off to a great start, knocking it to 2ft on the first for a tap-in birdie then got to three under soon after with two-putt birdies at the third and fourth. I knew I was playing really well and got two more birdies at the par three sixth and 14th holes.
“After I made the birdies at 16 and 17 I knew I had a chance to shoot 59. I just needed to give myself a chance so I hit an iron off the tee then left myself 10ft for the 59. My only thought was ‘don’t leave it short, there’s not many chances to break 60’. It’s been a really great year so far and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes in the next couple of months. From there I can set my plans out for next year. Right now I’m keeping my feet firmly on the ground – hoovering the shop floor after back-to-back wins will do that.”
Mark led the field by four shots as Alex Wrigley finished in second place with a round of 63.
Mark followed his success up the following day by sharing the winner’s cheque with George Cowan, Craig Goodfellow and Ryan Ingram at the Goswick Pro Am.
