DAVID Park showed that he can compete with the best when he produced another encouraging performance to finish in a tie for 18th place in the lucrative Johnnie Walker Classic, won by Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez at Bangkok, Thailand.
The Herefordshire professional's 11-under-par total of 277 (69, 72, 67, 69) saw him finish six behind Jimenez and just a shot adrift of world stars Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie, earning £12,000 to move up to 31st place in the Volvo Order of Merit.
Excellent early-season form has Park post level par or better in the last eight rounds and he said: "I practised hard under the direction of my coach Tim Barter prior to going out to South Africa and it is certainly paying off. I am driving the ball well and giving myself a lot of birdie chances."
This was borne out by the fact that he had only five bogies in the four rounds around the tricky Bangkok course, which demanded accuracy off the tee.
Park, who was one of the busiest players on last year's tour, will be taking a break until the Dubai Desert Classic in early March, with his next 'golfing' commitment being to act as best man to long-time friend and fellow professional Keith Preece.
n Hereford Rowing Club's elite coach Mike Dolloway made light of a limited club selection when he bagged his first ever ace on a Meco Society day out at The Grove.
Playing in a three-club competition, Dolloway, who is a member at Leominster, had the choice of a three-iron, seven-iron or putter when he stood on the tee at the 125-yard par-three third hole.
He wisely decided to choke-down on the seven iron to send it unerringly into the cup.
Although Dolloway had to dash away to keep a coaching commitment with his rowing squad, he conformed to golfing tradition and treated his society colleagues to the usual celebratory drink.
n Junior member Tom Tidd won the Ford Bridge match-play title at The Grove when he beat Alec Stevens on the first extra-hole.
The 14-year-old Lucton School pupil had battled his way through the early rounds and, after a ding-dong tussle in the final, ended up all-square with Stevens after the scheduled 18 holes.
Keeping his nerve, the youngster bagged a par at the first hole of the sudden-death play-off to claim the title.
The club will hold their annual meeting on Tuesday, February 10 at 7.30pm.
n Graham Dodge produced a superb round of gross 69 to win the Sapey January medal.
Results, division 1 (0-14): 1 Graham Dodge 69-7-62, 2 Richard Holgate 75-9-66, 3 John Tanfield 80-13-67; division 2 (15-28): 1 Dave Parry 83-18-65, 2 Neil Holbrow 87-20-67, 3 Keith Edgell 85-17-68.
n Sarah Lawrence and David Shuttleworth posted the top score of 41 stableford points to win the high handicap category in the latest Herefordshire GC winter mixed competition, with Marie and Doug Parry taking the honours in the low division with 40 points.
Results, low handicaps: 1 Marie and Doug Parry 40 pts, 2 Sylvia Topley and Graham Davies 38, =3 Jean and Ian McIntosh, Tina Bell and Willie Weaver, Sue and Cliff Mawby 37; high handicaps: 1 Sarah Lawrence and David Shuttleworth 41, 2 Pam and Jeff Williams 40, 3 Jenny Cooke and Ron East 38.
n It took a countback to decide the winners of Kington ladies' winter pairs combined stableford, played over 12 holes, with Ruth Lias and Priscilla Scott edging out Jane Burgoyne and Chris Thomas after both pairs had carded 47 points. Pamela Layton and Jane E Burgoyne were third with 44.
Mixed greensome foursomes stableford (12 holes): 1 Chris and Mel Hughes 26 pts, 2 Janet and Barry Pennell 23, 3 Jill and Glyn Wictome 22, 4 Pamela and Nigel Layton 22.
Tony Humphries top scored in the latest leg of the Senior Winter League with 39 stableford points.
Results, division 1: 1 Stan Arnold 37 ps, 2 Ron Davies-Jones 37; division 2: 1 Tony Humphries 39, 2 George Farr 35, 3 Viv Weaver 34.
n Kington ladies booked their place in the second round of the Mail on Sunday national knockout with a 3- home win over county rivals Sapey.
Gill Lloyd beat Kate Hamilton 3 and 2, Pamela Layton beat April Whetton 3 and 1, Chris Hughes beat Tina Wooldridge 2 and 1, and team captain Angela Wilkes halved with Pam Ellis.
n Rosie Cole, Rosemary Snowzell and Sally Thomas won their respective sections in the Burghill Valley ladies' January medal.
Results, silver: 1 Rosie Cole 91-15-76, 2 Mary Crockett 95-16-79, 3 Vicky Howells 94-15-79; bronze A: 1 Rosemary Snowzell 98-26-72, 2 Anne Herbert 101-26-74, 3 Margaret Welsh 100-26-74; bronze B: 1 Sally Thomas 105-34-71, 2 Mel Foster 107-31-76, 3 Sybil Prout 115-38-77.
n Peter Boughey won the January medal at Brockin-gton with a nett 69 and it needed a countback to decide second and third places.
January medal: 1 Peter Boughey 83-14-69, 2 Peter Robinson 88-17-71, 3 Alex Shave 91-20-71.
Seniors' touring medal: 1 Mike Avery 83-16-67, 2 Peter Robinson 85-127-68, 3 Keith Shaw 97-26-71.
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