Eighty-two players teed it up at Manning Heath Golf & Wine Estate in West Sussex last week for the first of five regional qualifying tournaments for the 2021 EuroPro Tour.
With just the top 29 players progressing to the final qualifying stage, competition was fierce, although former Lee Westwood Trophy winner David Hague made it look a breeze when topping the leaderboard with rounds of 67 and 68, for a nine-under-par total. That gave the Malton & Norton Golf Club man a comfortable four-stroke victory over his nearest competitor.
The Waterfall course couldn’t have played anymore differently over the two days, although that failed to bother Hague, who clinched his first professional victory before the pandemic and was happy to get back out competing and finding some consistency. “It was frustrating as I was on some good form just before lockdown, but since the restart, I’ve managed to play a lot of one-day events on the 2020 Pro Tour, which has been great.”
Overnight leader Connor Worsdall (The Essex Golf & Country Club) was safely through after a one-over-par final round, while one of the best performances of the final day came from Scotsman Chris Maclean (Balmore) who signed for a 69 (-3) to move from one over on his first day.
Six amateurs made it through to the next stage of qualifying, with George Goddard (West Hove) and Charlie Strickland (Ham Manor) both safely through in tied 11th on one under, while Jack Dyer (Boyce Hill), George Raitt (Whetstone), Callum Farr (Northants County) and Jamie Wood (The Golf College) all came in under the cut mark of three over par.
For the full results from Mannings Heath, click here.