Jason Dransfield finally secured his first win on the Tour after some recent close shaves with some immaculate play after a seven hole play-off with the Host club's attached pro Ronan Rafferty, winner of the European Order of Merit in 1989 from the stars of Europe's 'Golden Era'.
Four behind travelling companion Tom Murray after 36 holes and some frustrating form on the greens, Jason found the key to success in the final round. He hit all 14 fairways and all 18 greens in his 2 under return of 70 then saw the leaders all have their troubles as his 3 under 213 total held up. He then proceeded to hit all the 7 greens and the fairways off the tee in the play-off including a 7 iron to 18 inches on the first hole for a birdie two matched by Rafferty's curling 18 foot putt which hovered on the lip for several seconds before toppling in to extend the proceedings.
The first day saw some excellent conditions matched by the stunning setting of the Roxburghe course. The morning leader was Steve Parry who's 5 under 67 saw 2 eagles on the back 9 par 5's which for a while saw him in a 4 shot lead until last out Rafferty returned a 69 despite a last hole bogey.
The afternoon round with a couple of tees moved up saw many players start to figure out the course yet only 2 players again broke 70. First was Harry Proos who, as at Wilmslow, raced out in 5 under and reached 8 under for his round before giving one back at the very tricky 17th for a stunning 7 under 65. The round was set up by Proos' prodigious hitting off the tee which on the into the wind holes saw partner Rory Walsh, himself no slouch off the tee, often hitting 3 or 4 clubs more into the green. Surprisingly no one came close to this until Tom Murray with 3 late birdies return a 5 under 67 for a 139 total 2 in front of Proos. Again it was left to the last man Rafferty with his second sub par round of the day (71) to separate them on 4 under.
With some quality players grouping on 1 and 2 under including Dransfield it seemed certain that a low last round would be needed to pick up the winners cheque.
The third round saw even better conditions but the course was given a formidable defence with some testing pin positions. Many players saw the odd disaster spoil reasonable cards until 'local' man Graeme Brown returned a very tidy 68 to set 2 under shortly pipped by Dransfield. This looked to have no chance as word filtered back that over night leader had turned for home on 7 under with first round leader heading for the courses signature hole, the par 5 14th, on 6 under.
Tom then saw a flier with his approach into the 10th find a horrible spot through the green which took him 3 shots to get onto the green only to suffer a 3 putt for a disastrous 8. Meanwhile Steve bogeyed 14 and 15 then came unstuck on the steep bank in front of the 17th green for a double bogey. A valiant effort at the 18th for a birdie to tie Jason just missed leaving only European Tour veteran Rafferty to par the 18th to force a play-off. This time Dransfield, who had thought he was heading to a win at Prestatyn only to be frustrated by the spectacular 62 of Adam Runcie, wasn't to be denied.
For Rafferty he now holds the honour of having competed in the longest play-off on both the European Tour and the Players Tour!! Finally the Tour would like to express our thanks to The Duke of Roxburghe for inviting us to host an event at his superb hotel and course. We are equally delighted to have been invited back, this year if scheduling permits.
Jason uses our Hummer II putter.
