PGA professional Craig Dun (right) and club captain Alan Beach (left). Image courtesy of Getty Images.
[15 November 2011], Marriott St Pierre Hotel & Country Club captain Alan Beach hopes jet-setting PGA professional Craig Dun's experience will make all the difference at the final of The Lombard Challenge in Turkey.
Beach and Dun will represent Wales at the PGA Pro-Captain Tournament after winning their qualifier on their home course in Chepstow last August. They will face nine other clubs from across the UK in the £25,000 event being staged over 36-holes at the PGA Sultan Course at Antalya Golf Club from November 25-26. Dun has been there before finishing joint second in the 2008 final staged in Bahrain and Beach hopes that experience will count in their favour.
Beach said: "Craig's has been there and done it so to speak so I hope that will make a bit of a difference because that sort of experience could be invaluable. I don't think we can make any predictions but I think the course might favour the amateur players with lower handicaps. I play off seven and I'm a tempo player, so I hope that will give us a chance of doing well. We're feeling quite positive; Craig is playing more at the moment because he was out for a time after injuring himself when he fell off his road bike."
Beach admitted that the final comes at a busy time for Dun, who will be getting plenty of air travel under his belt.
He said: "It's going to be hectic few days for Craig. He was due to go to New Zealand to visit his brother and had to put that back until after the final. So now he'll be flying to Turkey, playing the final, flying back to the UK and then jetting off to New Zealand. So he should be clocking up the air miles."
Beach also believes that the pair are a good mix, adding: "We get on well and gel together as a team. I think the only dispute we've had is over what colours to wear when we play in Turkey. The course doesn't look that long but I think it'll be challenging and a real test for us. It will be the amateur players who will decide the way it goes. You can always guess how well the professionals will do, but it's more difficult to judge the captains in advance."
For Lombard meanwhile, the PGA Pro-Captain event has been a welcome return to golf following their long association with the PGA National Pro-Am Championship.
As managing director Alexander Baldock explained: "Having previously enjoyed a very successful relationship with the PGA in sponsoring the PGA National Pro-Am we were confident that partnering with the PGA to present The Lombard Challenge, a PGA Pro-Captain Tournament, would be an exciting initiative to be part of and one that we are very proud of too - and it has proved just that!
"We have seen a great deal of golfing entertainment over the qualifiers and now we look forward to heading off to the finals in Antalya to watch the pros and captains from around the UK battle it out to become this year's champions."
The Lombard Challenge, a PGA Pro-Captain Tournament
2011 Finalists:
| Club | Professional | Captain |
|---|---|---|
| Northampton | Nick Soto | Keith Heard |
| Westerham | James Marshall | Glenn McMahon |
| Malden | Rob Hunter | Terrence Higgins |
| Dukinfield | David Green | Steve Warburton |
| Marriott St Pierre | Craig Dun | Alan Beach |
| Ashbourne | John Dwyer | Martin Farrell |
| Downes Crediton | Barry Austin | Tony Cockayne |
| Shirland | Ian Walley | Paul Robinson |
| Strathaven | Stuart Kerr | Jim Preston |
| Mundesley | Ryan Pudney | David Crosby |
ENDS
For further information please contact Nathaniel Sylvester at PGA Headquarters on 01675 470 333 or e-mail media@pga.org.uk
Visit http://www.pga.info/ProCaptainChallenge.aspx
Visit www.PGA.info for up to date reports and scores throughout the season from The Lombard Challenge and all PGA tournaments
Note to Editors
Lombard is part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. As one of the largest asset financiers in the UK and voted Best Leasing & Asset Finance Provider by Business Moneyfacts in 2009, 2010 and 2011, Lombard provides various forms of asset finance to businesses of varying sizes – from SMEs to large corporates. Products include Hire Purchase, Finance Lease, Operating Lease, Sale and Leaseback, Contract Hire, to Contract Purchase, as well as multi-specialist asset finance products such as marine, aviation and specific wholesale and stocking funding for distributors and dealerships.
Celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2011, Lombard is headquartered in Redhill, Surrey, with an extensive network of business centres situated throughout the UK, and is an appointed representative of The Royal Bank of Scotland plc, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
