LOUTH pair Nick Taylor and Victor Cooke have earned a shot of playing at Gleneagles in the final of Europe's biggest pro-am competition – The Lombard Trophy.
Taylor, 45, and Cooke, 67, teed up a chance to tread the fairways of the Ryder Cup 2014 venue when Cooke won his club qualifying competition.
He and Taylor now advance to the regional final at York's Fulford Golf Club in July, where they will play for the chance to secure one of the 16 spots available for the 36-hole grand final at the famous Scottish resort between September 3-4.
Cooke is a member of Louth Golf Club and has been playing the game for 15 years, and competes with a handicap of 21.
Taylor, who has been the pro at Louth for 10 years said: "It offers us a great chance to play at Gleneagles. I've played there before andI've got to say, it's pretty spectacular.
"It's a long and tough course but it's fantastic. It's a cracking place for the final – but it's about getting there first.
"We're looking forward to the regional final at Fulford. We're going to have a bit of practice together and Victor wants a few lessons on his chipping so we'll have a quick check of that, but he'll be fine.
"But he's done well to get this far so he's obviously in good nick – we're both looking forward to it."
The tournament attracts more than 50,000 competitors from across Great Britain and Ireland and is now its 29th competitive year.
The PGA National Pro-Am Championship has a total prize fund of £80,000, with the winning professional at the grand final taking home a cheque for £12,000.
