Andrew Butterfield off to a decent start at the Titleist PGA Play-Offs
Sundridge Park Golf Club’s teaching pro Andrew Butterfield carded a one-under par 70, in the opening round of the Titleist PGA Play-Offs, to take the share of the third position, on Tuesday, December 11, 2012.
The tournament is being staged at the Antalya Golf Club's PGA Sultan Course, featuring a total of 24 professionals from the Great Britain and Ireland.
The winner of the tournament will earn a coveted spot in next year’s BMW PGA Championship.
Moreover, the top-three players to finish the tournament will join the Great Britain & Ireland team for the PGA Cup encounter against the United States team.
Butterfield, who is set to start his job as a head pro at the Knole Park Golf Club from next week, marked a shaky start to his campaign in Turkey.
He mixed two birdies and the same number of bogeys on the front nine of the course, to reach the turn in even-par.
The back nine witnessed him record one birdie and eight par putts, to finish the day four strokes behind the pace set by David Higgins.
Talking to the reporters after completing his round, he expressed his pleasure in performing well, considering the fact that he has not played golf in the past few months.
"I haven't played for months, not even hit a ball, because I was so busy teaching and then applying for the new job where I had to do a presentation and write a business plan which took up all my time," he explained.
He also stated that he was lucky to save the pars on occasions when he hit the ball into the water hazards, present on the course.
"I played pretty well considering. I found the water a couple of times, including on the par five 16th when I went for it with my second shot. I thought I'd hit a good shot but the hazard juts out quite a bit but I managed to get up and down for a par,”
he said.
The defending champion Richard Wallis, in the meantime, took the second spot on the leaderboard, after carding a four-under par 67.
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