Ace Luke achieves high finish on national tour

Golf professional Luke Cornford achieved a top six finish on the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour.
Luke Cornford has achieved three top 10 finishes on the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour this season.Luke Cornford has achieved three top 10 finishes on the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour this season.
Luke Cornford has achieved three top 10 finishes on the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour this season.

St Leonards-based Cornford, of Cooden Beach Golf Club, came tied sixth in The Nokia Masters at Mannings Heath Golf Club & Wine Estate, West Sussex.

Cornford carded rounds of 70, 72 and 67 for a seven-under-par total of 209, which was only two shots away from a tie for third.

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He opened up with a two-under-par 70 on a rain-affected first day. The round contained five birdies, including three in four holes from the 14th, and three bogeys.

Cornford followed that with an up-and-down level par 72 on a windy second day. That round featured an eagle two on the par four second hole, three birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey.

The 30-year-old finished with a splendid five-under-par 67 on Friday which contained six birdies, including three in a row from the second, and a solitary dropped shot.

It was Cornford’s third top 10 finish in eight events on the circuit this season having previously come tied 10th in The Grenke Championship at Cumberwell Park Golf Club and tied fourth in The PDC Golf Championship at Studley Wood Golf Club.

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It left him 33rd on the season-long order of merit, known as the 2017 Race To Amendoeira, heading into The Motocaddy Masters at Wychwood Park Golf Club, which will get underway this Wednesday.

Hastings-based Paul Nessling, also of Cooden Beach Golf Club, produced a creditable display to finish tied 43rd with a one-under-par total of 215.

Nessling began with back-to-back level par rounds of 72, carding two birdies and a double bogey in the first, and four birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey in the second.

He then closed with a one-under-par 71 which looked like being a good deal better after birdies at the first and second were followed by two more at the eighth and 12th. Three consecutive bogeys from the 14th, however, cost him a top 30 finish.

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Nessling went into the event on the back of a golden run of form in PGA and Sussex Professional Golfers’ Union competitions.

Steven Gibbs, of Sedlescombe Golf Club, missed the 36-hole cut by a solitary shot after carding rounds of 71 and 74 for a one-over-par total of 145.

He mixed three birdies with two bogeys in round one before carding three birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey during a second round where he dropped five shots in four holes around the turn.

The HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour is Europe’s leading development tour, and the European Tour’s satellite in the UK and Ireland.

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A two-hour highlights package from each event is broadcast on Sky Sports, and on 98 networks around the world, reaching 400 million homes.

The tour has played a pivotal part in the early careers of some of the biggest names in golf, including major winners Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen.

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