Steve Carter crowned British Par 3 champion

Club professional Steve Carter beat a strong field at Nailcote Hall that included European Tour players Philip Archer, Lee Slattery, Graeme Storm, James heath and Tony Jacklin to become the Farmfoods British Par 3 Champion.

The South Staffordshire professional finished on -2 beating David Hutton, by a single stroke after two rain soaked days and 36 holes to claim the £5,000 prize money.

“This is without doubt my biggest win,” said Carter. “There were a lot of really good players here who perhaps would be expected to do a lot better than me, so to contend with good players is what I want to do.”

Carter, part of the last group to go out in the rain-affected first round played the tough short course almost to perfection, carding six birdies and dropping just two shots in his two loops of nine, fired a superb four-under-par 50 to take the outright lead from a chasing pack that included Tommy Horton, one of the grandest names in British golf, Tony Jacklin, the legendary two-times Major winner, a clutch of former Ryder Cup players and a group of European Tour players for whom the demands of Nailcote's fabulous Cromwell Course proved more than a slight challenge.

Last month the 30-year-old won the Parque da Floresta Midland Masters crown for his first Midland Order of Merit title which until yesterday was his best victory.

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