Sung Seals Surrey Win

3rd February 2010

Chun Sung has won the Surrey National 2010 with a superb bogey free back nine.

Chun & Neil Willis tied on 40pts on the frozen greens at Surrey National, but Chun took the title due to a back nine of 23pts, compared with Neil's solid 20pts.

This was Chun's first win for over 2 years. His last victory coming in The Winter Finale 2007.

17pts on the front nine was only good enough for a T6 position.
Manny Purewal led the field with a front nine that started nett birdie, nett eagle, nett birdie. reaching the turn with 22pts. Neil Willis, Roy White & Charles Chan were tied 2nd on 20pts. Kevin Wellings made the top 5 with 18pts.

Chun started the back nine with determination. Two nett birdies and a nett eagle put him on 27pts after 12 holes. He was still one behind Neil who has shot 8pts through the 10th to the 12th hole. Manny was tied alongside Chun on 27pts.

Kevin's chance of victory faded with nett bogeys at 11 & 13. Although he would nett par the next three holes, Kevin failed to score on the final two and would finish outside the top 10. But another cut was made and that brings Kevin's run to 24 consecutive cuts made.

Charles was another player whose back nine started off on the wrong foot. nett bogeys at 10 & 11 slipped him into a tie for 5th. With another two coming at 16 & 17, Charles would  come back in 14pts and finish 6th on is own. His two nett birdies at 12 & 14 were cancelled out with a double bogey at 13. A solid round for Charles, maybe Charles will be one to watch over the coming months.

By the time the players had walked off the par 3, 13th hole. Chun was tied for the lead with 29pts. Manny Purewal joined him at the top. Neil who failed to score on 13 was in 3rd on 28pts. Roy was 4th on 26pts also not improving on his score at this hole. Eric Chan had moved into the top 5. He has scored 9pts so far on his back nine putting him on 25pts.

A nett birdie at 14 put Neil back on top with Chun who managed a nett par. Manny net bogied the 14th to drop to 3rd. Roy and Eric were tied 4th after they shot net par and net birdie respectively.

Of the top five, all players would shoot nett pars over the next two holes, except for Neil who posted a nett birdie at 15 to move one ahead of Chun. As they walked to the 17th tee, Neil was on 36pts. Chun 35pts. Manny 34pts. Roy & Eric 32pts.

The 17th is a blind downhill par 4. Nett pars from Neil & Chun kept them battling it out at the top. Manny also shot a nett par to stay in contention. A nett birdie from Eric put him only 3pts behind the leader, whilst Roy's nett bogey robbed him of any chance of winning.

The long par 4 18th hole has water guarding the green. The players would have to negotiate this if they were to claim the title. Eric was in 4th at this stage on 35pts and would need a nett birdie and hope the others failed to score on the hole. He shot exactly that and posted 38pts as the clubhouse leader. If the top 3 failed to beat 38pts, then Eric would win on Countback, having shot a better back nine.

Roy who could no longer mathematically win finished on a high with a nett birdie to post 36pts. A top 5 finish in his first outing of 2010 will boost Roy's confidence. A win must surely be on the cards this year.

Neil, playing in the fourth group was the next to finish. A solid nett par gave him a total of 40pts, knocking Eric off the top spot. Two nines of 20pts from Mister Consistency would have been enough to win around here any other year. Neil sees his handicap cut to 12.7.

Chun was in the group behind Neil and had shot 20pts so far on the back nine. He would need a net birdie to match Neils score and win on Countback. A Solid drive and approach would give Chun that opportunity. With his fourth shot dropping into the cup, Chun would post that required nett birdie and take the title.
Both players were tied on 40pts, But Chun had shot 23pts on the back nine compared to Neils 20pts.

Playing in the final group was Manny on 36pts. In order for Manny to take the title he would have had to hole his 2nd shot to give him 5pts. It wasn't to be and Manny would post a nett bogey to finish in 4th place on 37pts. Another great performance Manny is quickly becoming a danger man out on the SCC Tour.

Martin Parkinson won the medal for Longest Drive at the 18th (280 yards).

It is remarkable that it has been over 25 months since Chun's last victory. It seems most tournaments he is amongst the mix. Chun has seen his handicap cut down to 14.4. His lowest ever on Tour.  He currently lies 2pts behind Neil in the race for The Winter Swing 2010 Order of Merit.
Neil is on 29pts, Chun 27pts. Roy is 3rd on 24pts. Charles makes up the top 4 on 23pts. With two more tournaments left in the Swing, anyone in the top 10 could make a move. But the players topping the OoM at the moment will be very focussed come the next tournament.

Pedham Place will host The Pedham Open on 21st February. Lee Missen returns to defend the title he won last year.