‘It's a chance to win money and add value to yourself at the club’

11/06/2025

Sand Moor’s Alex James had previously never played his home course with a card in his hand – now he has qualified for the PGA Professional Championship at Ingrenourne Links.

The Head Professional of the Yorkshire club led the North qualifying event thanks to a three-under 68, which included five birdies on the back nine. James, who played in a handful of Challenge Tour events and won the Welsh Assistants in 2005 and 2006, joined Sand Moor in 2018 after seven years at Catterick GC.

He did enter the 2024 North qualifying but that was washed out and, after completing the Manchester Marathon in less than four hours in May, he turned his attention to putting in a respectable effort at his place of work. In the end it turned out to be a memorable day.

“I didn’t play over winter but I then had a couple of positive games and did a little bit of sneaky practice. I would come in at 6am a couple of times and played before work, just to try and get ready for it. It was probably the day before that I thought, actually I'm playing quite nicely here,” James said.

“There's home course advantage but then there's pressure with that because obviously the members know you're playing and there were a few down by the 1st tee. I had a great warm-up and I had one of the scratch team caddying for me who knows the greens inside out. He was absolutely fantastic on the day and that was really comforting. I got off to a good start and then you just try and get on a roll.”

In the end James would double-bogey the short 15th but birdies at 16 and 18 gave him the £500 first prize and a popular win.

It obviously made me feel great but the members here were unbelievable in terms of the messages and support

- Alex James

"I was keeping the scores and I kept accidentally clicking on the leaderboard. We were going down 16 and one of the other guys said that there were only three others under par so I knew I was doing alright. Then I clicked on it again by mistake so I knew I probably had a putt on the last to win it. And thankfully I was able to hold it together."

The plan now is to play in a few more events, both on the back of the victory and a couple of other factors.

“One of the things that made me want to practise a little bit is that I’ve recently taken on two assistants, Josh Ringrose and Harry Hunter-Mapp, and they’re both good players so that kind of wakes up the competitive dog in you to not get overshadowed. So I will probably try and play more now.

“It’s also easy to see it as you have to take a day away from the club and you have to pay an entry fee. But, rather than losing money all the time, it's a chance to win money and add value to yourself at the club and to appreciate how proud the members are of you when you do well. It obviously made me feel great but the members here were unbelievable in terms of the messages and support.”

The final reason is the most basic one, the ability to put a score together when the heat is on.

“It was brilliant and I really enjoyed those feelings again. It’s been a few years since I’ve had them and it was lovely. The course was tricky and playing fast but it was nice to be able to keep hitting the shots and get in that little zone.”