OVERNIGHT leader Daniel Brooks maintained his advantage to win the Sureshot GPS International Open at Bovey Castle in Devon in the latest PGA EuroPro Tour event.

Brooks (Mill Hill) was ten under overnight with a four shot advantage and still held that lead after nine holes, with three birdies and three bogeys on the front nine.

Matthew Evans (Rotherham) held sole possession of second spot at the start of the last day on six under par but was joined by two others - Nicky Harris (Whitefield GC) and Peter Appleyard (Read Group) in the early afternoon.

Brooks dropped a couple of shots near the end of his round but it did not prove costly as he still triumphed to win the £10,000 first prize.

Harris came second two shots behind on six under with Llewellyn Matthews (Southerndown GC) and Jamie Elson (Forum Financial Associates) in tied third on five under.

However, things could have been much different for Matthews as a poor second day proved costly. He shot a five under 65 on day one and a four under 66 on day three but would have had a good chance of winning if he had done better than a four over round of 74 on day two.

It was a similar story for Spaniard Carlos Balmaseda, who had shared the lead with Brooks at the end of the first day. But a disastrous eight over on Wednesday saw him fall rapidly down the table, although a last day 67 saw him end in tied 12th.

Three players finished in level fifth - Paul Dwyer, Neil Walker and Matthew Evans - on four under with four men a shot behind on three under.

Appleyard fell away in his back nine as five dropped shots between the 11th and 14th holes saw him finish in 22nd position.

DAY TWO REPORT
DANIEL BROOKS is closing in on winning the Sureshot GPS International Open at Bovey Castle in Devon in the latest PGA EuroPro Tour event.

Brooks started the second day joint leader on seven under with Spaniard Carlos Balmaseda. However, both golfers enjoyed contrasting fortunes on the second day in the three-day competition.

Brooks fired birdies at the fourth, seventh, 10th and 12th to move to 11 under before he dropped a shot at the 16th to end the day on ten under.

But Balmaseda had a shocking day as he plummetted down the table and saw his hopes of winning the £10,000 top prize evaporate.

A seven at the par four first was a terrible start for the Spanish golfer but his day got worse with bogeys at the second, third, fifth and sixth before a double at the ninth.

Matthew Evans shot a five under 65 on day two to move to six under for the competition, while Peter Appleyard and Nicky Harris both start day three on five under, five shots behind Brooks with Neil Walker on four under.

Paul Maddy had started day two only three behind the leaders but he soon fell away as double bogeys at both the fifth and tenth proved costly.

It was a similar story for Jeremy Kavanagh as he scored a double at the first and also dropped shots on the fifth and sixth.

DAY ONE REPORT
CARLOS BALMASEDA shot a fantastic seven under opening round of 63 to become the early leader in the PGA EuroPro Tour’s Sureshot GPS International Open at Bovey Castle in Devon.

The Spaniard picked up four birdies on both front and back nines with just a single blemish on the 16th to lead by two shots on a day of fine scoring on the South Coast.

However, he was soon joined on seven under by Daniel Brooks (Mill Hill), who did not drop a shot all day. He went through the turn at two under par before picking up back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14 then three more birdies in his last four holes.

Young South African Louis De Jager was part of Balmaseda’s three-ball and he is one of four players to share second spot two shots back at five under. The 22 year-old has enjoyed success on the Sunshine Tour and showed he could mix it in Europe too, going out level par after three birdies and three bogeys, but finishing strongly with three further birdies building up to an eagle at the last in his 65.

Llewellyn Matthews (Southerndown GC) joins De Jager after posting five birdies without dropping a shot, while Tom Haylock (Ground Construction Ltd) mirrored the South African’s effort with an eagle at the last seeing him post a 65.

Last week’s event at Prince’s Golf Club in Kent was a tight affair and the early signs are that Devon holds much of the same in store with a cluster of players at four and three under.

Jamie Elson (Forum Financial Associates), Paul Maddy (Gog Magog) and Jeremy Kavanagh (Stoke Park) carded four under rounds of 66 to lurk three shots behind Balmaseda, while Order of Merit leader and Sky Bet’s 12/1 favourite Steve Surry (Cumberwell Park) heads a pack of players at three under after the opening round.

The second round of the Sureshot GPS International Open begins at 6.30am on Wednesday morning, with live scoring available at www.europrotour.com by clicking on the Score Updates link.

Date posted: June 16, 2009

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