Vicar wins golf qualifier
16th August, 2012 by Rebecca Haydock
A vicar – who is the captain of Broadstone Golf Club – has bagged himself a place in The Lombard Challenge final, a PGA pro-captain tournament.
Reverend John Taylor holed a birdie putt at the 18th hole of the regional qualifier for The Lombard Challenge at Woodbury Park Golf & Country Club in Devon. He, and his partner, PGA professional Neil Rowlands, won by one stroke and will now compete in the final in Turkey.
Taylor said that divine intervention played no part in the win and the final hole, which saw Barry Austin and Chet Greenslade (Downes Crediton), Gary Milne and Mike Priest (Exeter Golf & Country Club), Roy Holland and Hugh Purvis (Long Ashton) and Jack Stevenson and Jon Behennah (St Mellion) fall into joint-second place, was won through sheer determination and perseverance. Smiling Taylor said: “I don’t think me being a vicar had anything to do with it. In fact, Neil lost his ball at the first hole, which we bogeyed. But we recovered well and I don’t think I’ve ever reacted to holing a putt in the way I did at the 18th! It was just brilliant”
The recovery and win means the Broadstone duo will compete against other regional qualifiers from around the country in the £25,000 challenge final over the PGA Sultan course at Antalya Golf Club in Turkey later this year.
