King John battles to North Region crown

THERE was a time seven months ago when John King was unsure if he would walk properly again let alone win another tournament.

As he lay trapped under a golf buggy after an accident during a round with some friends in Portugal, all sorts of thoughts crossed his mind.

“I was in a lot of pain. I realised both my ankles were broken because they had swelled up and I did not know how things would turn out,” said the 50-year-old Lindrick professional.

His injuries were so serious that he spent two months in a wheelchair, three weeks hobbling along on a Zimmer frame and today still needs a walking stick.

And if ever the old adage “beware the injured golfer” was applicable it was in King’s case as he won the De Vere PGA North Region Championship at Heron’s Reach where he beat Woodsome Hall assistant Chris Hanson, a player half his age, at the first play-off hole.

He led after an opening round of seven-under-par 65 but later in the day could only walk 200 yards on nearby Blackpool promenade before he had to sit down.

“I still felt very stiff at the start of the final round but when I rolled in a birdie from 30 feet at opening hole I suddenly felt a lot better!

“It settled me down and convinced me my putting was going to continue in the same mode as the previous day. I’d struggled on the greens until I arrived here and was going to change my putter for the fourth time in a few days until I realised I was the problem and not the club,” said King whose first tournament following his accident was six weeks ago in the De Vere Leeds Cup at Oulton Hall.

King, who walked with a shooting stick while his dad Barry caddied, pitched in for an eagle at the 539-yard 10th to pull away from the pack. But a double bogey at the 16th, where he lost his drive, gave Hanson a one-shot clubhouse lead on 11-under-par after closing with a 66.

But King birdied the 466-yard par five last, courtesy of a splendid shot with a rescue club from the rough, to post a 68 and set up the play-off on the same hole.

This time Hanson, winner of the 2009 Manchester Open, pulled his drive into the hay, bunkered his next shot then saw a 30-foot birdie effort slide by. King, on a greenside slope in two, pitched to five feet and coolly drained the putt.

Haigh Hall’s Craig Corrigan, who won the last time the events was played at Heron’s reach in 2005, was third two shots off the pace. David Clark, from Morpeth, handed in the best card of the day, a flawless 65 featuring an eagle at the 490-yard sixth and five birdies which lifted him into a three-way share of four place on eight-under-par.

“I got the rough end of the draw in the first round because the rain never let up,” he lamented.

LEADING SCORES: 133 Chris Hanson (Woodsome Hall) 67 66, John King (Lindrick) 65 68; 135 Craig Corrigan (Haigh Hall) 67 68; 136 David Clark (Morpeth) 71 65, Simon Edwards (Windermere) 69 67, Phil Archer (Birchwood) 66 70; 137 Adrian Ambler (Moor Allerton) 69 68, John Wells (Cherry Burton) 69 68, Gary Brown (Ganton) 68 69, Paul Bradshaw (Boothferry) 67 70; 138 Mark Ridley (South Moor) 69 69, Martin Forster (Tynedale) 68 70; 139 David Shacklady (Mossock Hall) 71 68.

FINAL ORDER OF MERIT: 1,306pts Steve Parry (North West Golf Academy); 1,098 David Shacklady (Mossock Hall); 872 John Wells (Cherry Burton); 796 Paul Grannell (Vale Royal Abbey); 762 David Smith (Swinton Park); 744 Chris Hanson (Woodsome Hall); 738 David Clark (Morpeth); 724 Adrian Ambler (Moor Allerton) 598 Jon Cheetham (Gatley); 593 Chris Clarke (Waterfront Golf).