James and Collins fly high in North Norfolk

(From left to right) amateur Ben Collins, sponsor Richard Saunders (Marstons Beer Co) and PGA professional Kieran James.

Kieran James (North Circular Golf) and amateur partner Ben Collins scorched to success under blue skies in the Marstons Beer Co PGA Summer Classic.

James and 12-handicapper Collins notched 82 points over two days at Royal Cromer and Sheringham.

Ed Morton (EM Golf Studio) and his brother Robert also finished on the same total.

But James and Collins, a businessman who plays his golf at Hadley Wood, secured the spoils on countback after bagging a mighty 46 points in the second round, played under better-ball format.

James said: “It was all Ben – he was really good. The first day we were average but on the second day he played out of his skin.

“He made two birdies on ‘shot’ holes – so that was huge, eight points straight away. I was definitely the backing support – that was it. I shot level par with two birdies.”

The win capped a memorable two days for James and his partner as they journeyed to and from North Norfolk in true style

He explained:  “Our mate, who we travelled with, owns a helicopter. So we flew from London in 40 minutes, played golf, had a nice evening at the hotel and got flown back again.

“As a trip goes, it’s hard to beat. The only thing is we forgot our sun cream and got roasted. Apart from that, it was spot-on.”

The Morton brothers were the first-round leaders, having scored 43 points at Royal Cromer playing under a greensomes stableford format.

Their solid second-round tally of 39 points wasn’t quite good enough to hold off the charge from James and Collins.

A further two points back were two combinations – Lee Patterson (Royal Cromer) and Jayne Jones and Daniel Poulter (Heacham Manor) and Chris Clayden.

There were 60 teams in total at another hugely-popular renewal of the Marstons-sponsored PGA Summer Classic. The Marstons Beer Co Autumn Classic will be staged at Felixstowe Ferry and Woodbridge on September 28-29.