Cort set for PGA Professional Championship title defence at Sherwood Forest

12/06/2023

Matt Cort (Beedles Lake Golf Club) heads into the 2023 PGA Professional Championship this week hoping to become the first player since Russell Weir in 1988 to successfully defend his title.

As defending champion, the Midland-based PGA Professional put in a solid performance last year at Slaley Hall to defeat Daniel Whitby-Smith in a dramatic play-off.

“This event is a highlight - it was a massive thing for me last year,” said Cort. “Slaley Hall was a great finishing course because the last few holes are really testing.

“Ashley Mansell was leading but he had a tough finish, so it could have gone his way. I sometimes feel I just hung in there, I didn’t blitz it, I just hung in there and managed to just get it done, but a win’s a win.”

The 2023 PGA Professional Championship will be contested over four days at Sherwood Forest Golf Club, so it requires more stamina from the players involved, as the 48-year-old explains: “Most of the things we play are one-day pro ams, it’s just like a sprint, but this is four rounds over four days, so you’ve got to pace yourself and if you’re not on your game one day, it’s about managing the errors and hopefully you can swap it around on the next three days.

“For a four-round event, there’s going to be a lot of patience needed, especially on that course because I know it’s quite demanding off the tee, there’s lots of trouble - high rough and gorse bushes off the tee and the greens are going to be pretty quick.

“It’s a really strong field on a good golf course, so you can’t ask for more than that.”

Cort goes into this week after a strong start to his season, with three first place finishes already under his belt in PGA tournaments alone, at The Manchester Open (Open Series), Hayling Pro-Am and Midland Masters, but the PGA Professional Championship is a special event.

Cort added: “I play all the time but this one has been on my mind - this is a big one for me. I’ve been playing well, I’ve had a couple of wins early in the season, so I feel I could do well, but then obviously the best PGA pros in Great Britain and Ireland are going to be there, so it’ll be a good test.

“There’s a little extra pressure to fulfil what I did last year and put on a decent performance, but that’s my goal with any tournament - to play well and try and get in contention to win, so that’ll be the aim next week.”