Preston GC golfer Stephen Nixon capped the golfing weekend of his life with a staggering victory in the Wilpshire Trophy last night.
FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play
The 30-year-old travelled to the East Lancashire course having previously never managed a top 12 finish in a Northern Order of Merit event but came through to win by one shot thanks to a pair of level-par 69s.
A day earlier he shot his lowest every round in a club competition at Preston – a three-under-par 68 – having been three over par after five. He was ably assisted by first-ever competitive hole-in-one, the ball flying straight into the cup at 153-yard eighth.
“I think it might be time to stop playing golf after that,” said the Preston GC club champion, who has also become a plus-handicap golfer for the first time in his life.
“This is, without a doubt, the biggest victory of my life. When you see who you are up against, I can’t quite believe it.
“When I came in with another 69 I never thought for a second I was going to win it with that score. In the morning there had been a 67 and a couple of 68s and I just thought level-par was going to be fairly close but not that close.”
At halfway he was two behind home favourite Michael Barton while another Wilpshire player – Ben Ewen – and Clitheroe’s Shaun Field were just a further shot back.
In the afternoon a double bogey at the fifth looked like it was about to get compounded by a lost ball on the short-par sixth.
However just as he was about to start the long walk back to the tee, his tee shot was found and he managed to get up and down for a birdie.
“The pin was at the back and I thought if I could get it into the bunker short left that wouldn’t be the end of the world. However it just made it over and rolled up to about 12 feet.”
He also birdied 13 and 17 to get back to level par having also dropped one at 12.
And at the last he left a golden birdie chance in the jaws from 10 feet.
“Had that cost me I would have been gutted,” added Nixon. “But thankfully it didn’t.”
In the final shake-up four shots covered the top 14 with home player Lewis Gregson snatching second thanks to a closing 67. In third was Bolton’s Danny Belch. His 16-point return cut the gap at the top of the overall standings with Northern Order Of Merit leader Andrew Haswell now leading the way by 65 points.
A day earlier Nixon was celebrating a stunning ace although he or his playing partners only discovered the ball had gone straight in once they got to the green.
“Because of the sunlight, we couldn’t see it land but it never left the pin and my playing partners were like ‘that is all over it’.
“When we got to the green the left side of the hole was damaged where the ball had landed and dropped straight in.
“It definitely been a weekend I will never forget.”