Bedford duo earn final place with birdie blitz

A Bedfordshire County Academy coach finished top of the leaderboard at the Golfbreaks.com PGA Fourball Championship East qualifying event.

Steve Vinnicombe, of Bedford & County Golf Club, teamed up with colleague and first year PGA assistant Nick Cunningham to card a six-under-par round of 64 at Bush Hill Park Golf Club in north London.

The pair tied at the top with four other teams, Mark Sturgess and Jack Yetton (Bourn Golf & Leisure), Michael Vandenberg and Tim Owers (Wyke Green Golf Club), David Bunker and James Reynolds (Stanmore Golf Club) and Robert McNicholas and Aaron Howard  (Saffron Walden Golf Club).

But Vinnicombe and Cunningham won the Bush Hill Park on countback after making seven birdies in the final six holes.

They will join five other qualifiers at the £33,250 BMW-supported grand final at St Mellion on August 20-22.

“We had a great back nine after nothing had really gone our way before that,” explained former European Challenge Tour player Vinnicombe.

“We bogeyed the fifth hole and didn’t get a birdie until the eighth hole. It was very slow for us at first.

“But we knew it was close and we said we needed to make seven-under-par to make sure of qualifying.

“And it all came together after that. Ironically, the one hole of the final seven that we made par at was the one that was likely to be birdied. It turned out okay in the end though.

“But if we hadn’t stepped it up then we might have been struggling to qualify.”

Vinnicombe is a class AA member of The PGA and a Lead Bedfordshire County Academy Coach who has coached at the last three Open Championships.

And while coaching dominates his career at the moment, Vinnicombe is relishing chance to play in a PGA Final.

“It means we’ve got a tournament to look forward to in a couple of months’ time,” he said.

“I’ve played in it before twice and when the final was at Fulford Golf Club I finished seventh so I haven’t got a bad record although I concentrate mainly on coaching these days.”