Westwood ready to bring tour experience to Staysure Trophy

Walsall amateur Dave Westwood hopes his experience as an amateur player will see him through to the Staysure Trophy final when he pairs up with Brian Rimmer at Maxstoke Park.

The Little Aston Golf Club duo are due to play in the qualifying event which takes place on May 22 at the Coleshill venue.

Rimmer is a former PGA Cup player and a seasoned professional.

But 54-year-old Westwood plays on the Mid-Amateur Tour, where he won the Order of Merit in 2017, and plays off a plus one handicap.

Both will be aiming to reach the final which is being held from July 31 to August 1 at the London Golf Club near Sevenoaks, Kent.

The pro-am competition sponsored by Staysure, the insurance specialists for over 50s, has been launched by the PGA this year and carries a £30,000 prize fund.

Westwood, who works as a manager at BT,  welcomed the introduction of the competition but admits he has a packed calendar already.

“I want to give this a good shot, it’s great to be playing alongside Brian and it’s good to see the event introduced this year,” said Westwood, who has been playing golf for 40 years.

“But I play a lot, mainly on the Mid-Am Tour which is for over-35s and can take me from the south coast up to Scotland. I won the Order of Merit on the Tour last year and will have events on two successive days before the event at Maxstoke Park.”

Westwood says he strikes a good balance with work which allows him to play golf. And he will even be playing in the USA this year.

“I manage to fit it all in with work as well, I shall be off to New York next month to play in the Anderson Memorial, which is an invitation-only event, you virtually have to send your CV in to be accepted. I’ve never set foot in America before, so I’m really looking forward to that,” he added.

“I seem to have got better the older I’ve got!”