Cherry’S The Pick Of The Bunch
Published: 01 May 2009
Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship Results Release
The class of Ashridge pro Peter Cherry and Arkley’s Andy Hurley shone through at Hadley Wood, Barnet, as they shared top place in a field of more than 60 professionals from the PGA’s East Region.
Playing in the first of eight regional qualifiers for the flagship event of Britain and Ireland’s top club professionals, the Glenmuir PGA Championship, Cherry, now 43, fired a three-under 69, comprising five birdies and two bogeys, a scorecard mirrored exactly by the former Europro and Challenge Tour player.
Two under playing the 411-yard final hole - uphill but downwind - the Ashridge man struck a towering nine-iron 142 yards, which came to rest eight feet from the pin – and he gratefully recorded his fifth birdie of the round.
Captain of the region four years ago, Cherry has successfully dovetailed running a pro’s shop and trying to compete at a decent level, having reached final qualifying for The Open on no fewer than 13 occasions.
“I missed making the Open by four shots last year at West Lancs – it can be a brute of a course in foul weather – and the closest I’ve come to actually playing in an Open is two shots.
“I’m really looking forward to the Glenmuir final (over 72 holes at Dundonald Links, near Troon). I’ve never played Turnberry or Troon nearby, but did play Glasgow Gailes, which is just a couple of miles away.
“I’ve been at Ashridge for two-and-a-half years, trying to combine the tasks of running the professional’s side of the operation and still trying to find time to work on my own game. That can be quite testing at times.”
Hurley, a former assistant at Sandy Lodge, took full benefit of the short distance he had to travel from Arkley to Hadley Wood. A faultless front nine, in which he birdied both long holes and the par-four ninth, was followed by a stuttering start to the inward half as he dropped shots at the 11th and 12th, but a quick gain at the long 13th was followed by his final birdie on the last hole.
When all the scores were in, what looked to be heading for a lengthy play-off – 10 players chasing the remaining four places – was neatly resolved when two players in each group of five birdied the first hole, a reachable par-five.
The leading 14 finishers at Hadley Wood will tee up in the £78,000 Glenmuir final on June 16 at Dundonald Links, the seaside course under the same ownership as the famed Loch Lomond. And based largely on results there, the 10-man team to play the United States in the PGA Cup (the club pros’ version of the Ryder Cup) will be chosen.
That match is also in Scotland, at The Carrick on Loch Lomond in September.
