Barnham Broom’s Alex Beckett hitting form at just the right time

These are exciting times for Barnham Broom assistant Alex Beckett.

He had a round of three under par 69 at Nazeing in the pre-qualifier for the PGA East Region Championship to be played at Essendon Country Club on June 17 and 18.

And he followed that up with an excellent start to the Final Qualifying School for the Europro Tour at Frilford Heath, moving into a tie for 15th after two rounds.

Beckett made a blistering start at Nazeing to be four under after five holes. Two birdies were followed by an eagle on the 515-yard par five fifth. He then had four more birdies and five dropped shots.

He finished five shots clear of his four nearest rivals who all signed for two over par 74. They were James Gurry (Gurry Golf), Alastair Archibald (Hadley Wood), James Smith (Maylands) and Mark Talbott (Thorpe Hall).

Paul Geen (Ely City) was among the 20 qualifiers but Joe Lambert (Norfolk Premier Golf) and Ian Scott (Bungay and Waveney Valley) both missed out.

At the Europro Qualifying School Beckett goes into today's final round in excellent shape after rounds of 69 and 70.

At five under par he was well adrift of leader Warren Bennett, who was out on his own after rounds of 67 and 63, but was only four shots off second position.

Sheringham's Will Harrold comfortably made the cut, despite slipping to a 74 after an opening effort of 69. A regular on the Tour last season, Harrold found himself in a tie for 54th position going into today's final round.

Gorleston's Alexander Holmes, who also played on Tour in 2012, missed out on a return when efforts of 72 and 76 left him one shot outside the cut.