Prison officer Dave ready to swap cons for pros

Bicester Golf Club professional Peter Thompson.

Prison officer Dave Shields is hoping to find the key to victory at the Lombard Trophy qualifying event at Camberley Heath Golf Club.

Amateur player Shields will team up with his Bicester Golf Club PGA Professional Peter Thompson for the event which is being held at the Surrey course on July 25. And the prize for the winning pair will be a place in the Portugal final.

Shields, aged 49, works at Bullingdon Prison, but will leave the inmates behind for the day as he makes his second attempt to reach the Lombard Trophy Final.

He made it to a previous qualifying event at Oxfordshire’s Frilford Heath Golf Club but fell short in a competition where only top spot is good enough to seal a place in the sun.

“I’m looking forward to having another go at the Lombard Trophy after playing in it once before a few years back when Jamie Ray Herbert was the pro here,” said the five handicapper.

“We fell short on that day but you can never predict what’s going to happen. We know the prize on offer and all we can do is our best.

“But we have our club championships just before the Lombard Trophy so that’s good preparation.

“My job allows me a quite a lot of time off in the week so I can practice if not play.”

The Bicester pairing will be bidding for a place in the Lombard Trophy National Pro-Am Final, supported by Coca-Cola and Pestana Resorts, which will be held at the Pestana Vila Sol resort in the Algarve between September 21-22.

And Shields explained that it was the end of his days playing local football that turned him towards golf.

“I’ve been playing for 25 years now when I packed in football in the Witney & District League and took up golf,” he said. “A lot of ex-footballers seem to do.

“Myself and Peter have had a chat about the event at Camberley Heath, I’ve never played there before so we’ll be looking to get a practice round in beforehand.”