Victory Cup

CLIVE GRAY put together a superbly consistent weekend of golf to lift the 36-hole Victory Cup at Cirencester Golf Club – and by all accounts his celebrations in the clubhouse were just as impressive, writes Danny Hall

Clive was solidly on the leaderboard after his opening nett 67, then the 20-handicapper added a best-of-day nett 65 to take the title by a shot from Andy Bradley who came home with a fine nett aggregate of 133 (67, 66).

Clive had a a wobble around the turn, dropping five shots to par on the 9th and 10th but steadied himself with some solid play over the last eight holes. Fourteen-handicapper Andy, who has had a win and two other top-five finishes already this season, may rue two 7s on his Sunday back nine after playing the opening 11 holes in a scintillating two over par.

The pair were clear of a trio on 136 – Andy Bell, Scott Hicks and next year’s captain Adam Collins. Hicks (64) and Collins (65) were both in great positions after Saturday but slipped slightly to 72 and 71 respectively on the second day.

Dave Gardiner, who has enjoyed three top-10 finishes this campaign, again had a good tournament and was in pole position as joint-leader on Saturday with his spectacular 64, but his scorecard read 12 shots worse on the second afternoon.

RESULTS: 132 Clive Gray (67,65); 133 Andy Bradley (67,66); 136 Andy Bell (69,67); Scott Hicks (64,72); Adam Collins (65,71); 138 Dan Skinley (70,68), Jon Cowley (70,68).