Dan's almost the man at Moor Allerton

Howley Hall’s Dan Gavins enjoyed his best finish of the season on the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour when he tied for second in the Clipper Logistics Championship at Moor Allerton Golf Club.

Gavins finished on ten under par after rounds of 66, 69 and 68 , three shots behind the winner Craig Ross from Kirkhill Golf Club.

Ross started the day as co-leader on 10-under par with rookie Josh Hilleard, but they were soon put under pressure by Gavins who turned in 32 after birdies at 5, 7 and 9. He added two more birdies at 12 and 15 but could not close the gap although he did have the consolation of picking up a cheque for £4,500.

Friday the 13th is unlucky for some and early in the round it looked to have claimed Ross as one of its victims; a bogey on the 3rd before a big eagle miss on the seventh could have led to disaster for the Scotsman but he put any notion of that to bed with a superb run at the turn collecting three birdies in four holes.

“It feels amazing; I’m so thankful that I won today.” said Ross, who now has a win to his name as a professional on the EuroPro Tour, adding to his amateur victory back in 2014 at Mar Hall Golf Club.

He added: “I felt like I had the tournament in my control for the most part, I was hitting it really well and just kept plugging away at my own game as I knew the scoring opportunities would appear.

“It helped a lot having Hilleard out there as my playing partner, we’ve known each other for a long time through the amateur ranks so it was good that we were able to spur each other on at times.

“To get a professional win so quickly into my career will help my confidence and game improve; the £10,000 cheque is a nice little bonus too.”

The win sees Ross rocket up the Order of Merit to third in the overall standings, with the top five spots at the end of the season earning Challenge Tour cards for the 2019 season.

Gavins moved up to 17th, three places ahead of Moortown’s Nick McCarthy, whilst Hillsborough’s Joe Dean currently holds one of the coveted top spots sitting fourth with just over £12,500 after a string of consistent performances.