John Ross Galbraith has secured the biggest victory of his professional career by taking glory at the Clutch Pro Tour event at Harleyford Golf Club in the Thames Valley.
Rounds of 66 and 64 saw the Whitehead man take a one-stroke lead into the final 18 holes, but he’d already seen his two-stroke overnight lead halved as play had been suspended prior to completion of the second round and England’s Ben Hutchinson had birdied three of his final four holes to get to -13.
Galbraith had been flawless for 36 holes and his cards were blemish free, and when he rolled in a birdie putt on the par-4 opening hole in round three, he couldn’t resist thoughts of a first ever bogey-free tournament.
He was quickly brought down to earth when he bogeyed the following two holes and lost sole possession of the lead, but birdies on five and nine got him back on top.
Hutchinson had made nine straight pars, but found his mojo on the 10th and added further birdies on 11 and 14, while Galbraith’s third bogey of the day on 13 saw him fall one back.
Both players birdied the par-5 17th, but Hutchinson blinked on the tough 18th, pushing his tee shot right and failing to carry the out of bounds markers. Now in the driving seat, Galbraith stood up and piped one down the centre to take firm control and held his nerve to roll in a par-putt for victory.
“This is the biggest event I’ve won,” a delighted Galbraith said afterwards. “It’s been a while since I’ve put two bogey-free rounds together, so it was really nice to do that.
“The bogey free rounds are so satisfying for us pros because I always make plenty of birdies, but I throw in too many mistakes and that’s been holding me back from winning in the past.”
Due to an early tee time on day two and the delayed start to the final round, he had a long time to sit on the lead and try as he might, not thinking about the task ahead proved difficult.
“I mean, I finished at 11:30 yesterday and I wasn’t on the golf course till quarter past one today, so it was a lengthy delay, but, yeah, I just tried to sort of take my mind off it and not think about it too much,” he explained.
“But I found myself saying to myself all morning ‘a bogey free tournament? I’ve never done that before. That would be something’.
“A birdie at the first and I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, we could do it today’, but I miss my drive on the second hole on the left, and I was slightly blocked out and I just clipped the tree on the way through short of the green, didn’t get up and down, so I kind of got the bogey free, out of the way early on.
“So sort of got that out of my system early on, and then I could just sort of refocus and get back on the birdie train then.”
Though this is his first Clutch Pro Tour win, he’s been knocking on the door so to finally get over the line and seal the deal means he’s on cloud nine.
“I mean, it is sweet,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming for myself. You know, I’ve had so many chances to win at this level, and I’ve never got it done.
“I should really have won at least two or three, but it’s a sweet feeling that I finally got it done, and all I can think about now is looking ahead as to where I’m going to be playing next and having that sort of confidence and momentum with me to to take that in the, you know, future tournaments.”
Liam Grehan wasn’t far behind, with the K Club man closing out the week with a 67 to finish tied for third, two shots back. It means that both Grehan and Galbraith go into the Clutch Pro Grand Final in a fortnight’s time with the knowledge that a win would virtually guarantee a top-three Order of Merit finish and promotion to the Challenge Tour for 2025.
Jack Madden was next best in a tie for 22nd at -9, one ahead of Stuart Grehan, while Marc Boucher (-7) and Rowan Lester (-5) completed the Irish lineup who made the cut.
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