DAVID Shacklady survived a potential card wrecker to card a two-under-par 70 in the first round of the Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship at The Oxfordshire.
The Mossock Hall professional, a prolific winner on the regional circuit, is gunning for his first national PGA title having bagged two top 10 finishes in the flagship Glenmuir event which is also supported by MPI Financial Services and Peugeot.
But Shacklady skirted with danger at the 588-yard par five 17th after finding a bunker with his drive which meant he could only bump a 5-iron down the fairway.
It left him with a 2-iron approach which he got to 35ft before promptly holing out down a slope to escape with a birdie.
"I pushed my tee shot into a bunker on 17 which was a nightmare because it is such a difficult hole. I was left with a 35footer down the slope. I was thinking I'd be lucky to get away with six, it was a potential disaster so I was pleased that it turned into a four," he said.
Shacklady held his nerve to par the last to sit four shots adrift of clubhouse leaders Jamie Harris (Nevill Golf Club), Stuart Little (Minchinhampton), Cameron Clark (Moor Hall) and Dan Greenwood (Forest Pines) who all fired 68s.
"Overall I'm happy with my score, it's a long course for me but they are fairly generous greens if you put the ball in the right places on the fairway."
Shacklady has shrugged off a slow start to the season and is running into form with 11th place finishes in the Welsh Open and English PGA Professional Championships.
He is also lying second in the PGA North Region Order of Merit. "I'm starting to put a few scores together, it's going the right way," he added.
PGA Cup duo Barry Taylor (Houghwood) and Andrew Barnett (North Wales Driving Range) both shot 71s. The 72-hole event, which carries a £90,000 prize fund, concludes on Friday with a halfway cut of the top 50 and ties.
The Mossock Hall professional, a prolific winner on the regional circuit, is gunning for his first national PGA title having bagged two top 10 finishes in the flagship Glenmuir event which is also supported by MPI Financial Services and Peugeot.
But Shacklady skirted with danger at the 588-yard par five 17th after finding a bunker with his drive which meant he could only bump a 5-iron down the fairway.
It left him with a 2-iron approach which he got to 35ft before promptly holing out down a slope to escape with a birdie.
"I pushed my tee shot into a bunker on 17 which was a nightmare because it is such a difficult hole. I was left with a 35footer down the slope. I was thinking I'd be lucky to get away with six, it was a potential disaster so I was pleased that it turned into a four," he said.
Shacklady held his nerve to par the last to sit four shots adrift of clubhouse leaders Jamie Harris (Nevill Golf Club), Stuart Little (Minchinhampton), Cameron Clark (Moor Hall) and Dan Greenwood (Forest Pines) who all fired 68s.
"Overall I'm happy with my score, it's a long course for me but they are fairly generous greens if you put the ball in the right places on the fairway."
Shacklady has shrugged off a slow start to the season and is running into form with 11th place finishes in the Welsh Open and English PGA Professional Championships.
He is also lying second in the PGA North Region Order of Merit. "I'm starting to put a few scores together, it's going the right way," he added.
PGA Cup duo Barry Taylor (Houghwood) and Andrew Barnett (North Wales Driving Range) both shot 71s. The 72-hole event, which carries a £90,000 prize fund, concludes on Friday with a halfway cut of the top 50 and ties.
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