MIDLAND PRO'S PURSUE GLENMUIR PLACES

Around 70 of the PGA Midland Region’s top club professionals will head for Kedleston Park, Derby on Monday (April 18) bidding for places in the final of the PGA’s flagship championship.

But for the second successive year the host pro’, Paul Wesselingh, can carry on with his usual business, knowing he has an exemption through to the 72-hole final of the Glenmuir Club Professional Championship at Woodhall Spa in mid-June.

As a member of the 10-man 2003 PGA Cup team (the club pros’ version of the Ryder Cup) in Florida, Paul enjoys that luxury until this year only. And his target for the biennial contest is to make the Britain and Ireland team for the fourth successive time when they renew rivalry with the Americans this September at the K Club, near Dublin.

In a field bristling with talent, the 18-hole test on Monday will feature several former PGA Cup men. The player with the hottest recent form is Andrew George from Ely City, winner by a shot from Wesselingh of the Starwood PGA of Europe title in Sardinia at the end of 2004. He faced the Americans at Colorado Springs in 1998.

So, too did Stephen Bennett, who runs his own golf academy in Grimsby. In fact, the 45-year-old former winner of the Tunisian Open recorded the biggest singles victory in Colorado, beating the seasoned Bruce Zabriski 5 & 3.

Another with a formidable pedigree is Little Aston’s Brian Rimmer, winner of the Glenmuir title in 1997, who contributed two PGA Cup victories in the U.S. the following year, including his singles battle against Jeff Langford.

For the 13th successive year, the club pros’ championship will be sponsored by Glenmuir, the leading golf leisurewear manufacturer. The winner at Woodhall Spa receives £10,000 and a place in the 10-man PGA Cup team heading for the K Club. The leading nine points scorers over the 2004 and this year’s championship (the latter offering double points) make the team; the 2003 winner, Gordon Law from Uphall in Scotland has already been selected.