PGA professional Ryan Pudney (left) and club captain David Crosby (right). Image courtesy of Getty Images.
[15 November 2011], Mundesley Golf Club captain David Crosby hopes he will be PGA professional Ryan Pudney's lucky mascot when they go to Turkey for the final of The Lombard Challenge.
Crosby and Pudney have had to wait six months for the PGA Pro-Captain Tournament having won their regional qualifier at Bush Hill Park Golf Club back in May. The waiting is finally over however and they will face nine other clubs from across the UK in the £25,000 event being staged at the PGA Sultan Course at Antalya Golf Club from November 25-26. Since making the final, Pudney has maintained his rich vein of form and Crosby hopes he will take that to Turkey.
Crosby said: "Ryan was very much a newcomer to the club and so I hardly knew him when we qualified in May. But since then he's settled in really well and has had some good results. We've also become good friends and since we made it to the Lombard final Ryan's been doing well in the Norfolk PGA Order of Merit so I don't know if I'm his lucky mascot or not! Let's hope so for when we actually get out there for the final."
Crosby, who plays off nine, is also relishing the chance to represent the north Norfolk-based club in Turkey.
He added: "I was feeling as high as a kite when we won through to the final. It's the first time the captain and the professional from our club have done anything like this. When you take on the role of captain at the club, you don't think that things like this can happen. But it's a tremendous thing for our club."
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.
