Elite club pros limber up at Dundonald

Links for Glenmur PGA title

By RON MARSHALL

Around 150 of the top club professionals from Britain and Ireland have had their first experience today of the formidable Dundonald Links, near Irvine, preparing for their flagship event which gets under way tomorrow.

Final practice for the £80,000 Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship has brought glowing comments from many quarters, despite the weather covering a spectrum that included heavy squally showers and – briefly - balmy sunshine.

Former winner Paul Wesselingh from Derby walked in after his round, warning everyone to keep their eye on another Derby man, James Whatley. The pair had just taken a tenner each from fellow PGA Cup players, Will Barnes and Danny Taylor.

A wealth of experience accompanied Scots Gordon Law, Craig Ronald and Robert Arnott as they teed off at the 10th - the first two former Scottish PGA champions, while Arnott, a PGA Cup player against the USA six years ago, won the Scottish qualifying round over Dundonald a month ago with a level-par 72.

The cut comes on Wednesday evening, after which the leading 50 and ties battle out the remaining 36 holes on Thursday and Friday, when the winner picks up a cheque for £10,000, and the 10-man team to take on the Americans in the PGA Cup (the club pros’ version of the Ryder Cup) will be announced.

In addition, the leading 10 players gain exemption into final qualifying for next year’s Open at St Andrews.