Gavins stays in front in Shropshire in Wealth Design Invitational

OULTON HALL’S Daniel Gavins followed his opening 62 with a 68 on the par-71 Championship Course at Hawkstone Park to lead by one shot going into the final round of the Wealth Design Invitational on the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour.
By Chris Stratford
Published 23rd Jul 2015, 22:13 BST
Yorkshire's Daniel Gavins remains out in front in the Wealth Design Invitational (Picture: HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour).Yorkshire's Daniel Gavins remains out in front in the Wealth Design Invitational (Picture: HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour).
Yorkshire's Daniel Gavins remains out in front in the Wealth Design Invitational (Picture: HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour).

He is just ahead of former European Tour player Andrew Marshall (Bawburgh) and Darren Wright (Golf at Goodwood), a EuroPro winner at Burhill earlier in the season.

Paul Howard (Southport & Ainsdale) is hunting his second EuroPro victory since turning professional earlier this year, having won the Paul Lawrie Granite City Classic at Newmachar last month, and is two back at the Shropshire venue.

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Rotherham’s David Booth is tied fifth, four shots adrift of Gavins, who – after negating an early birdie with a bogey – eagled the 530-yard par-5 fifth.

The leader also had birdies at holes 10, 14 and 16 and would have been further ahead but for dropped shots at his closing two holes.

Booth (66 68) had an extremely tidy card which showed three birdies and no bogeys.

Malton & Norton’s Chris Halley (66 70) is tied 12th having compiled his 70 with two birdies and one dropped shot.

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Tom Perry (Abbeydale) lies in a share of 19th after rounds of 68 and 69. He had two eagles in his round – at the 530-yard par-5 eighth and the 502-yard par-5 14th.

Sheffield’s James Maw and Moor Allerton’s Joe Heraty are in a tie for 25th, both having returned a pair of two-under 69s.

Maw started at the 10th and was three under going into his final hole, the ninth, only to suffer the only blemish of his round, a four at the 177-yard par-3 hole.

Heraty began and closed with bogeys, but in between had four birdies from the 10th through to the 16th.

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Marcus Armitage (Howley Hall, 70 69), Michael Skelton (Middlesbrough, 65 74) and Steve Uzzell (Hornsea, 73 66) are in joint 30th place.

Armitage had four birdies against two bogeys, while Skelton was nine shots worse than his opening tally, a string of dropped shots compounded by a double bogey seven at the eighth.

Uzzell was charging forward as Skelton backed up, trimming seven strokes from his opening round.

He started at the 10th, at which he picked up a shot to par, gave it back at the next and then had five birdies in 14 holes.

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Among those who missed the cut were Graeme Clark (Doncaster, 72 70), Guy Winstanley (Doncaster, 74 69), Nick McCarthy (Moortown, 72 72), Paul Lockwood (Hessle, 72 75) and Scott Campbell (Hallowes, 69 79)