Mark Talbott and Stuart Kinsella (Upminster Golf Club) emerged victorious at the prestigious St James’s Place National Pro-Am Grand Final, held at the picturesque PGA National Turkey at Antalya Golf Club in Turkey. Talbott, playing as the professional, delivered a standout performance to claim the £10,000 first prize, while Kinsella’s steady play as the amateur proved the perfect complement to their winning partnership. Together, they outshone a competitive field, with a score of 87 points over 36 holes.
The pair were tied for second place after round one and managed to leap-frog Haywards Heath Golf Club pairing Sam Cowley and Sam Hanbury as well as fighting off strong competition from Hornsea Golf Club duo Richard Pace and Kevin Taylor, who finished with a score of 86 points.
Talbott said: “I knew it was possible - we had a good start yesterday and put ourselves in a position to be able to win. We got off to a great start today, as did our playing partners (Cowley and Hanbury), which I think helped us really, because in my head I was thinking, if we can keep up with them, if we can beat them by a point, we've got a good chance. Stuart was awesome today. I left him on his own a few times on the back nine and he did what he needed to do. So we dovetailed great and definitely played better than yesterday. But a bit speechless really, lost for words!
“The course is fantastic, it is genuinely one of my favourite golf courses I've ever played. There's some holes in particular on the back nine where you've got to hit some really good golf shots and if you play well, you can score. But if you don't, it can eat you alive. So it's a great test. The condition was fantastic too.”
Kinsella added: “There were a couple of really nice birdie putts, on the ninth and the 14th and there were also a couple of nice saves in there, some sort of long, par saves in there, which kept the momentum going, kept the bogeys off the card, and we built from there really.
“To be honest with you, the whole thing has just been amazing from start to finish. Just to be involved in this, for me, was an amazing experience. Obviously, the cherry on top is winning, which I didn't expect. But it’s been a brilliant experience. I'm lost for words to be fair.”
The players followed in some famous footsteps when playing PGA National Turkey, as Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose, to name a few, played the same course at the 2012 Turkish Airlines World Golf Final. Antalya Golf Club’s General Manager, Izzet Kondak, elaborated: “It's been a long time, but since then, the course condition is nearly the same. We’ve had a really successful overseeding period and the greens are fast at the moment. We're very proud to have hosted the PGA Professionals this week - over 400 pairs from the UK went to qualifying, and only 12 of them are here. I’m sure we’ll see some of them again in the future.”
Find out what the players thought of the venue HERE.
See the final leaderboard HERE.
See photos from the event HERE.
