CIRENCESTER Golf Club Head Professional Ed Goodwin mastered some tricky conditions over a shortened Weston Super Mare GC course to match the revised par of 62 and collect his third Gloucestershire & Somerset PGA medal win of the season.

Renowned for being a strong player on links courses, Goodwin won by a single stroke from amateur Matt Kippen, but more importantly the West Region PGA Captain moved to the top of the Total Triumph Order of Merit as the halfway stage of the season was reached.

The North Somerset course was probably as wet as any of the players could remember it being but, despite a trolley ban and a fair few puddles, the event went ahead as planned.

The 5th and 6th holes were missed out due to the wet ground conditions and, thankfully for the competitors, the sharp rain showers of the first few holes gave way to a bright but still blustery day.

Goodwin didn’t get off to the best of starts and looked an unlikely winner as he shed four shots over the truncated front nine. His win was fashioned with some brilliance on his homeward run though as he carded four birdies and no more bogies to return in level par.

His shots were picked up at the short par four 10th, the tough par three 11th and then the two par fives on Weston’s back nine, the 13th and 17th.

His haul of four birdies also saw him claim a share of the Birdie sweep along with Burnham amateur David Gregory and big- hitting Filton assistant Tom Duke.

Goodwin now holds a small lead at the head of the Order of Merit from Rod Hibbitt (Cotswold Edge), who missed the event through injury, and Giuseppe Licata, who suffered a rare off day to finish out of the points.