Osborn cleans up at Farnham

West Hill’s David Osborn made a spectacular return to form, shooting a four-under-par 68 to win the Farnham Charity Pro-Am by one shot.

After a series of mediocre results for the 2017 season to date, Osborn was delighted to finish in pole position and claim the winner’s cheque of £1,150. But as he explained, after going so well for 14 holes he’d then made a couple of unforced errors through the 15^th and 17^th and needed a birdie down the last to come out on top.

He commented: “I haven’t played or practiced much this year having taken on more responsibilities at West Hill, but I was still keen to keep up my record of winning an event every year I’ve been a PGA Professional. It turned into a bit of a cliff hanger…!”

Off last, Osborn didn’t know James Ford (LefthandedGolf@Silvermere) had by then posted a three-under-par 69, but was aware that Ben Clayton (Hindhead) had shot two-under, so he had an idea of the target. A birdie at Osborn’s opening hole augured well, but he had to wait patiently until the eighth for the next one.

Then came two more at the 10^th and the 11^th to get Osborn to four-under and into the lead. Another at the 14^th and things were looking even better with just four holes left.

But after top quality golf for 14 holes, a dropped shot at the 15^th and then the 17^th put Osborn back into a tie with early clubhouse leader Ford. As he commented: “Having played there many times, the 15^th’s simply one of my bogey holes at Farnham, and the 17^th isn’t one of my favourites either!”

With one hole left, the par five 18^th offered the prospect of the birdie Osborn needed to win, but he pulled his drive, had to punch the ball out to around 70 yards of the green and wedged to 15 feet. “My team were getting very excited at that point,” he said, “as I think they knew exactly what the situation was, but I was trying to remain as calm as possible!”

So with all that, and the putting tip given him on the putting green before he teed off by The PGA South’s Regional Secretary Sam Smith, the West Hill star settled over the uphill, dead straight putt and holed it to secure his first win of the season.