PGA EUROPRO TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL
JIMMY BULLARD MAKES CUT AT PGA EUROPRO TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL
Former footballer is one of 196 who make it through First Stage
Former Wigan Athletic midfielder Jimmy
Bullard has made it through the First Stage of PGA EuroPro Tour
Qualifying School as he looks to make the grade on the professional golf
circuit.
The 34-year-old, whose former clubs
also include Fulham and Hull City, shot rounds of 75 and 76 on the
par-72 Constable Course at Stoke By Nayland Golf Club to finish his 36
holes seven over par and make it through to next week’s Qualifying
School Final Stage at Frilford Heath Golf Club by four shots.
“The first round was steady for me,” he
said. “I felt like I could have played better but it was difficult in
the wind. On Thursday we had a lot of snow but everyone is in the same
boat.
“It was a little bit into the unknown
for me. I am used to playing football so for me to come up here for the
first time with a pencil and card in my hand was a different pressure
but I really enjoyed it. I couldn’t sleep last night, I
just wanted to get out there again!
“I entered PGA EuroPro Tour Q School as
an amateur just in case I didn’t qualify, then I could go back and play
some amateur events and some medals. But do I believe I can qualify?
Yes, of course I do.
“I have enjoyed it so much and it has
given me a bit of direction in my life. I finished playing football in
October and coming out of a sport you have played for 15 years it goes
stone dead and it is quite a surreal feeling, quite a weird
feeling I had going on in myself and golf has got me out of trouble a
little bit.”
Stoke By Nayland was one of three host
venues for PGA EuroPro Tour Qualifying School First Stage. Greg Payne
(Chobham Golf Club) headed the 67 who qualified from the East Anglia
course to play at Final Stage. He finished four under par
after rounds of 69 and 71.
At The Players Club in Bristol 68
golfers qualified to play at Frilford Heath after the tournament was
reduced to 18 holes due to adverse weather delaying the start of play on
both days. Benjamin Martin hit an impressive two-under-par 68
to top the leaderboard in testing conditions.
Play was also delayed at De Vere Oulton
Hall, a course which stepped in to save the day last week after six
inches of snow fell on De Vere Slaley Hall, the original host venue.
Scotsman Paul Shields (Kirkhill Golf Club) led the 61 qualifiers,
finishing three under par after rounds of 66 and 71 on the par-70
course.
Qualifying School Final Stage takes
place at Frilford Heath Golf Club in Oxfordshire next Wednesday, April
10 over 54 holes, concluding on Friday, April 12. A total of 240 golfers
will take part hoping to earn a card for the 2013 season.
The PGA EuroPro Tour is the UK’s
leading professional golf tour and makes up part of the third tier of
European Golf. The top five earners on the season’s final Order of Merit
earn categories to play on the Challenge Tour, putting them
one step away from the European Tour.
A host of former PGA EuroPro Tour
players have gone on to win on the European Tour including major winners
Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel and Ryder Cup winners Ross Fisher
and Nicolas Colsaerts. The Tour’s 2009 Order of Merit winner
Scott Jamieson won his first European Tour event at the Nelson Mandela
Championship last December.
Labels: EUROPRO TOUR
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home