The Apeiron Northern Order of Merit’s Mr Consistency retained his Penwortham Rose Bowl title in brilliant fashion, Chris Parkinson winning at his home course by seven shots.
FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play
The 34-year-old finished the 2022 Northern Order of Merit in third, claiming three victories along way.
And this year the Lancashire squad member has opened up with a fourth-placed finish in the Crosby Plate at West Lancashire and last weekend was sixth at Delamere Forest.
Yesterday he gained the maximum 25 points to head the early running and was delighted to keep his hands on the trophy. Last April he became the first Penwortham player in 34 years to win the Rose Bowl. This time rounds of 67 and 64 meant he finished well clear of Radcliffe-on-Trent’s Michael Dean.
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“I actually played better in the first round but just couldn’t get the ball to drop,” admitted Parkinson, who also won at Caldy and Rossendale in 2022.
“In the second round I made a couple of really good saves for par and generally the short game was pretty good.”
Parkinson started his day with 12 straight pars before before bogeying 13. Thereafter he birdied the next four holes before rounding things off with another bogey. A brilliant chip-in on 17 helped him take a share of the lead going into the second round alongside Marsden Park’s Declan Buksh.
In the afternoon he started with a bogey on 10th but quickly got into his stride, birdieing 11, 13, 1, 2, 6 and 9, rounding things off with a 25-footer.
Buksh dropped to fourth after closing with a 72 while Dean’s second-round 68 saw him pip Isle of Man star Rob Noon (Mount Murray) and the first-round co-leader for second.