TWO local golf professionals, Nick Ellis and Ed Goodwin, fought it out at the top of the leaderboard in the latest Gloucestershire and Somerset PGA Medal at Cotswold Hills.

Both Ellis, from Naunton Downs, and Goodwin, head pro at Cirencester Golf Club, shot matching one under par scores of 71.

Promising Bath assistant James Hannam made it a three-way tie with his 71.

A frosty start greeted the players at the Ullenwood venue which made the first few holes interesting for the early groups but otherwise the course was in good condition for the G&S PGA’s annual visit.

Goodwin is a formidable at most courses he visits but probably even more so at Cotswold Hills where he spent his amateur days and early days as a pro.

It wasn’t a great surprise to see him set the clubhouse target of 71 that would not be beaten. A double bogey at the par 3 fourth hole, which plays much longer during the winter, wasn’t the best of starts but birdies soon followed at the fifth and seventh.

Turning for home he completed the clean sweep of birdies at the par fives as he picked up shots at the 13th and 16th but gave one back at the 14th.

This was the Total Triumph Order of Merit holder’s first medal success of the new season and with it moved him into second spot this term chasing leader Giuseppe Licata. Ellis was the next to card the winning number as his excellent form continued. He also collected birdies at the par five fifth and seventh, just as Hannam would do as well. A solitary bogey came on the front nine at the third and again only one shot was dropped on the way home at the 15th, before a crucial birdie three at the last moved him back under par.