Local knowledge pays off
March 4, 2010

[The following article appeared on the PGA website's South Region News pages, following Joe's victory in the third PGA South Region Winter Series at Walmer & Kingsdown GC on February 25]

Joe Jezzard may have only been at Walmer & Kingsdown for six months but he had more than enough knowledge to claim a share of victory in the third PGA South Region Winter Series in association with Titleist and FootJoy.

Jezzard shot a two-under-par 70 to tie at the top of the leaderboard with Southwood's Chris Hudson - on a day when strong gales made scoring tough. Jezzard also secured a ball, glove and shoe contract from the sponsors as the highest-placed assistant professional in the field.

"After a bogey on two, my round really kicked off with birdies at five, six, eight and nine to be three-under-par at the turn, so I knew I could be in the frame if I could keep it together," he said.

"Taking it one shot at a time, I still bogeyed 13 and 16, mainly by short-siding myself with second shots where I was probably trying to take on the pin more than play to the centre of the green, leaving the ball in difficult positions from which to get down with a pitch and a putt."

"Standing on the 18th tee, the wind had really got up and was actually making things more difficult as it's a 499 yard Par 5, slightly doglegged with long rough and bushes down the left and out of bounds down the right, so it was easy to run out of room or get into big trouble.

"But I hit a cracker and left myself, courtesy of the wind to some extent, with just a nine iron to the middle of the green and two more putts for a 70."

His round comprised three bogeys and five birdies including one at the par five last.