Doctor Hall gets the feelgood factor

Retired doctor Chris Hall made an appointment to play in the SkyCaddie PGA Pro-Captain Challenge final in Morocco.

The Scunthorpe-based Holme Hall Golf Club captain teamed up with PGA professional Paul Bradshaw to win the Midlands B qualifying event.

They carded an eight under par round to total 44 points at Wellingborough Golf Club to beat Welshmen Mark Bull and Mark Huxstable (Celtic Manor Resort Ltd) and Matthew Davies and David Griffiths (Vale of Llangollen Golf Club) by two points.

Hall contributed with four nett birdies and a nett eagle.

“I’m lost for words, it was quite a day, it was great fun, the course was fantastic and will definitely be the highlight of the captain’s year. It’s come at the right time, I’ve been playing well for the last couple of weeks,” said the 58-year-old Hall.

“But we didn’t think we’d been playing well enough to be in with a chance. We knew we had a very good front nine, but we were hanging on for the back nine and we expected 46 points would win it. It was testament to how tough the course was set up.”

The Lincolnshire pairing will now play in the the £22,000 final, in association with Golfplan, which will be played between November 21-22 at Mazagan Beach Resort, Casablanca.

Twenty handicapper Hall has been a member at Holme Hall for 12 years: “I played a lot of cricket when I was younger. When that came to end I took up golf. They say golf is the game you play between cricket and death!”

Bradshaw said he feared the pair had faded after a strong start: “Honestly, we didn't know if we’d done enough because we had a pretty poor back nine after a good start,” he said.

“I’ve played Wellingborough many times and I used a bit of experience, I know it pretty well and I was comfortable playing golf there.

“But I’ve never played in Morocco before, I’ve only ever seen it from Gibraltar! I’m looking forward to it as it’s the first time I’ve qualified for the final of this competition.”