Essex golfer Brandon Meads emerged from a difficult time to secure a play-off success in the Carlsberg Marston’s PGA in England (East) Trainees Championship at Bishop’s Stortford Golf Club.
Meads (Billericay Golf Ltd), Harry Casey (The Shire London) and Tom Rogers (Gog Magog) all finished the 36-hole tournament on three-under-par.
Meads shot 72 in the morning before a superb 67 – the lowest score of the day – in the afternoon set him up nicely for the play-off.
And at the first extra hole – a par-4 opener at the Hertfordshire venue – he put himself in prime position with a decent knock-down wedge shot to within inside 20 feet.
Both Casey and Rogers went long with their respective approaches, allowing Meads a putt for the title.
Fortunately for him, it was pretty much identical to one that he’d faced on the same green earlier in the day.
Meads, 26, explained: “I had it in the morning in the first round and misread it so I knew the line of it when I came back out and just dropped it in the middle.”
The victory was a real tonic for Meads, whose recent frustrations with golf paled into insignificance when his mother suffered a stroke last week.
He added: “It really put it into context – golf’s just a game. It made me realise that sometimes golf’s just not that important.”
Happily, his mum is recovering and Meads took his place in the 52-strong field at Bishop’s Stortford with a new sense of perspective about golf.
He added: “I just need to enjoy it. And when I enjoy it, I play well.”
Meads certainly did exactly that over both rounds in which he felt smart golf in the fast and running conditions was key to his success.
He said: “I was never out of play. I played with the same ball for 37 holes. I don’t think I even came close to losing it.”
CLICK HERE to view a full list of scores from the Carlsberg Marston's PGA in England (East) Trainees Championship.
