The Pedham Open Preview

15th February 2010

Lee Missen returns to the place of his last SCC Tour victory hoping to recapture the form that saw him win The Winter Swing 2009.

Lee won The Pedham Challenge 2009 with 39pts, a two point victory over Charles Chan.

Lee's form has fallen away since then, and with only one top ten finish since last March, Lee knows now is the time to step back in to the winners circle. Lee needs to find the magic of early last year if he wants to have a chance come The Swing Finale and Pedham Place might be just the venue to do it.

Charles came close last year and didn't do a lot wrong at all. Dropping shots on only 3 holes all round, Charles' solid play would have won this tournament on any other day. If the weather stays dry for Sunday, Charles will come here with more good memories than bad ones. His steady play of late has seen him rise to No.4 in the SCC Tour Rankings. If he now starts believing in himself, Charles will be a force to be reckoned with this year.

Chun Sung is coming off the back on a win at The National Stableford three weeks ago and has been solid for a long time. Surprisingly although he always seems to be in contention, his recent win was the first for a long time. But the SCC Tour No.2 will be looking to win yet another Swing. Chun won two Swings in 2008 despite not winning a tournament. He knows a good result here this week will give him a huge advantage.

Eric Chan knows this course well and is as much as a home venue for him as any. He didn't play too well around here last year, with a disastrous spell in the middle of his front nine. But two top 5 finishes in his last 3 outings mean that Eric might just be coming back to form. He is currently 5th on The Winter Swing Order of Merit, but a win here this week will see him put the cat amongst the pigeons going into the final tournament of the Swing.

My final one of my 5-to-watch this week is Roy White. Roy has been playing some of the most consistent golf he has ever played. Only finishing outside the top 10 once in his last 7 tournaments, Roy is currently 3rd on the Swing OoM and is 5th on the MCP. Although it has been a while since Roy won out here on Tour, I feel the time is right for him to claim victory.

This is the  2nd year Pedham Place hosts a SCC Tour event and so it is going to be tough to choose a winning score. If the frost stays away and the greens are receptive, then we should see around 39-41pts win here. With the slightly linksy feel to the course, the players will need a variety of shots to play well around this venue.