Raitt steals Kingswood crown
07/07/2017
Andy Raitt (St. George’s Hill) overpowered a star-studded field of PGA Professionals, shooting a magical five-under-par 67* to claim the Kingswood Charity Pro-Am crown by three shots, and his fourth Pro-Am of 2017.
Walking away with his winner’s cheque for £825, Raitt shaded out the two-under-par 70s of the new Be Wiser PGA in Hants Open champion Jon Barnes (Lee-on-the-Solent), last year’s Virgin Atlantic PGA South OOM champion Adam Wootton (Oxford Golf Centre), and Tom Muchmore (Kingsnorth), each of whom took home cheques for £525.
In the team event, four groups had 85 points, but on a countback Sittingbourne’s Peter Appleyard and his three amateurs came out on top, edging those of Richard Wallis (Canterbury), Guy Woodman (ProAgenda.com) and Raitt.
Starting on the second in a shotgun start, Raitt’s round was near flawless with just one dropped shot. Birdies at the fourth, fifth and eight took him to three-under by the turn, but after bogeying the 10th the seasoned campaigner and popular PGA Professional bounced right back with two birdies in quick succession at the 11th and 12th.
One more at the par five 14th took Raitt into a commanding lead, negotiating the risky final five holes of his card with straightforward pars to finish with a magnificent 67.
Speaking afterwards, Raitt was delighted to find he’d got into top gear yet again this season, having notched up victories at Sand Martins, Surbiton, Hale and now Kingswood.
He said: “It’s been a good season so far,” he said, “and I’ve had quite a few top ten finishes including the four wins. I’m swinging well but I’m not going out there with any particular expectations other than to try and do my best and inspire my amateur teams.”
He continued: “With the greens rolling well – at least they were for me! – and the game working well from tee to green, I’m really looking forward to rest of the season and there’s a lot of Pro-Ams and other events coming up now.”
