Nick Ludwell is Yorkshire's No 1 pro again, though he left it late to retain the Yorkshire Bank Yorkshire PGA Order of Merit title and add it to that he claimed at PGA North Region level.
The race went to the wire, the final of the delayed Yorkshire Bank match-play championship at Alwoodley.
The Selby professional sealed top spot by beating Cleckheaton's Warren Lockett 4&2, picking up a £600 bonus.
Ludwell needed to finish no wo
rse than runner-up to overtake John Wells at the head of the Order of Merit.
Cherry Burton's Wells had moved top with his joint-first place finish in the fifth of the six counting events, the Leeds Golf Car Yorkshire Masters at Bridlington Links.
There he tied with North Region champion Alex Belt and Chris Hanson, whose impressive shows when free of PGA Europro Tour duty earned him third place in the Order of Merit.
When the last four in the match-play met up at Alwoodley, Ludwell was given a scare by his Selby club-mate Aran Wainwright.
They fought a keen battle that went to the third extra hole before Ludwell prevailed.
That took Ludwell to the decider with Lockett who had progressed in his semi-final earlier in the day, beating Mirfield Driving Range's Robert Kershaw 2&1.
Along with the match-play, other Order of Merit counting events were the Yorkshire PGA championship, Links Challenge, the Yorkshire Open and Yorkshire Masters. Ludwell's best finishes had been joint-third in the PGA at Willow Valley and a tie for fourth in the Classic.
That left him 111 points adrift of Wells then the 200 he chalked up at Alwoodley clinched him the title and set the seal on another outstanding season.
He also finished third in the Srixon PGA Play-offs at Royal Liverpool to secure an invite to next year's Scottish Open at Loch Lomond plus a number of European Challenge Tour events.
Fraser Kelley, the Malton & Norton assistant who ran away with the Mizuno Assistants Order of Merit that brought him £1,000 worth of equipment from the sponsors, tied in the opening major, the Links Challenge at Bridlington, with Pannal veteran David Padgett and Walton Golf Centre's Adrian Ambler.
And Danny Denison made it a fairytale success in the Hillsborough Steel Stock Yorkshire Open at his home Howley Hall course.
It was his first competitive outing since suffering serious leg injuries in a car crash while travelleing to a European Challenge Tour event in Austria.
Final Yorkshire Bank Yorkshire PGA order of merit leaders: 480pts – N Ludwell (Selby). 391.6 – J Wells (Cherry Burton). 384.6 – C Hanson (Crosland Heath). 332 – A Ambler (Walton Golf Centre). 330.85 – A Belt (Bridlington Links). 316 – F Kelley Malton & Norton). 314 – M Marsh (Hallowes). 290.5 – J King (Lindrick). 272.5 – A Wainwright (Selby). 238 – S Barber (Waterton Park).
The full article contains 485 words and appears in EP Leeds First & County newspaper.
