Britain's Best Putter: McGrady reigns at Rockliffe

Close House Golf Club member Matthew McGrady showed nerves of steel to putt his way to victory in the North East Regional Final of Britain's Best Putter over the weekend. The three-handicapper recorded a steady 18-hole stroke play score of 38 putts around Rockliffe Hall's superb yet tricky putting green before going onto defeat his rivals in the nerve-racking matchplay stages of the tournament. In doing so he secured a place in the BBP Grand Final at The Grove on October 13th 2012.

"I'm a streaky putter, I have good days and bad days on the greens, so I certainly wasn't expecting to win the Britain's Best Putter regional final," admitted McGrady. "The competition got tougher and more nerve-racking as the rounds went on and by the final we were halving holes in single putts.

Luckily I managed to avoid any three-putts and that was critical. It's a really great format, fantastic fun to play, and I can't wait to 'putt' my skills to the test once again in the Grand Final at The Grove." McGrady will be joined in the Grand Final by defeated finalist Tony Adams, from Catterick Golf Club, along with semi-finalists Ian McCombie from Wetherby Golf Club and Kirsty Beckwith from Moortown GC.

Kirsty, a 14-year old junior, is no stranger to competition glory. Last year she won the Abraham Trophy, the top accolade in the women's game for the most improved amateur golfer. This year she has already dropped her handicap from 7 to 4 and she has her sights set on the top prize of a sensational golfing break in Spain and the Britain's Best Putter crown."I'll be practising hard in the run-up to the final," said Kirsty, "putting is such an important part of the game that I know if I improve I'll lower my handicap even more."

Britain's Best Putter is being run in association with Odyssey, the number one putter brand in golf, and the competitors at Rockliffe Hall were fortunate to have Odyssey's top putting expert on hand to advise them on the right putter for their game. The four lucky players who qualified for the BBP Grand Final will now collect a custom fit putter of their choice from the Odyssey line-up as their prize.

At The Grove, they'll be putting for a chance to win a golfing holiday to Spain's Las Colinas Golf & Country Club along with the ultimate title of Britain's Best Putter.