A NORTH-EAST teaching professional has described how the “best putting and chipping” display of his life helped to earn the biggest victory of his career.

Slaley Hall’s Steve Fawcitt did not allow the testing conditions to affect his performance as he clinched the North East/North West PGA Matchplay Championship.

Fawcitt was too hot to handle despite the wet weather at Wynyard on the final day and he followed up a victory over Philip Waugh after 20 holes by defeating Steve Harper 5 &4 in the final.

He had not expected to win the prestigious title because hadn't been working on his own game as much as he would have liked because of his time taken up because of helping others.

And Fawcitt, a former EuroPro Tour player, said: “I wasn't expecting to win as I have been teaching so much and concentrating on my role at Slaley Hall that I didn’t really know how well I was playing. I just took each round as a bonus and I think that helped to take the pressure off as I didn’t go into it with any expectation.

“I'd put the win down to a tweak to my putting routine, particularly working on my alignment, and also a lot of good up and downs throughout the tournament at key moments. In the final I only missed one fairway, hit the greens and putted well and the odd time I did miss, I got up and down to keep the pressure on.

“Our region is so strong and I managed to beat a lot of golfers in the early rounds who I respect and look up to so I’m really proud. My win against Jonathan Lupton was probably the best chipping and putting performance of my life so that was probably the match of the tournament for me.”

Fawcitt had played in the event four times before, reaching the semi-final once, while his previous best finish in a professional tournament had come when he was runner-up in the Northumberland and Durham Open.

But having impressed in the earlier rounds – most notably against Lupton despite his opponent having eight birdies – he continued his momentum in the later stages of the competition, sealing victory against Harper on the 14th hole where he was five-under-par for his round with no dropped shots.

Fawcitt has been head of teaching at Slaley – part of QHotels - for the last 18 months. His lessons include video analysis and use of Flightscope launch monitor technology, while the facilities include a covered floodlit driving range and extensive short game area.