There was a great deal of pressure on Simon Wakefield during the weekend’s final round of the Austrian Open and he rose to the occasion magnificently.

Although play-off glory would eventually go to English compatriot Kenneth Ferrie, Simon should not have too many regrets about finishing second.  He did all that could have been expected of him to claim the title while guaranteeing his immediate future at the same time.

Shooting five under par playing in the last group on the final day would be good enough for victory far, far more than not, but this was the one-off day and Simon had to settle for runner up.

After winning last year’s Tour School to win back his playing privileges, Simon arrived in Austria knowing that he needed a big finish to make sure he would not have to return.   So the consolation for him is that he knows he will again be teeing up with the big boys next season after moving well inside the top 115.

It looked for a long time as if we might have two players in the play-off, but Joost Luiten bogeyed the last to drop out of the lead and he had to settle for third.

Joost will definitely be one to watch out for next season while one of our older stalwarts, Jeev Milkha Singh, is also heading for a big comeback after a full recovery from injury.   His fourth place in the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open in Shiga, Japan, will give him all the confidence he needs for a strong finish to the season.

Our strength in depth was emphasised by our Challenge Tour players at the Allianz Open in Toulouse with Matt Baldwin third and Gary Lockerbie fifth while three others finished inside the top 25.

Congratulations too to Dodge Kemmer, second to Steven Uzzell at Wychwood Park, Cheshire, in reaching the Q School second stage along with Iain Pyman, Allan Versfeld and Danny Wardrop.