Britain’s Russell Berry overturned a five-shot deficit to claim a gripping victory in the 11th BlackSeaRama Vivacom Pro-Am at BlackSeaRama Golf & Villas in Bulgaria.
Up until the 16th hole, the story was all about overnight leader, Federico Elli (PGA of Italy), until Berry, [pictured centre, alongside BlackSeaRama Golf & Villas Deputy Managing Director, Marko Stoychev (left), and Confederation of Professional Golf Tournaments & Special Projects Manager, Emilio Dellanzo, (right)] a seasoned Confederation of Professional Golf competitor himself, holed a dramatic pitch shot on 17 for eagle before going on to scramble an important par on the brutal 224m par-three 18th.
“I thought it could be a bit more scoreable today…the goal was to see if I could get to Federico’s total of minus three and force him to shoot under par,” said the GB&I Professional. “I stayed patient, and fortunately I hit two great shots on 17 and managed to chip it in for eagle which was great.
“BlackSeaRama is a great venue – the staff, the facilities, they’re all second-to-none…of all the Pro-Am weeks I’ve been on – and I’ve been on a lot – this is right up there.”
Despite Berry’s six-under 66 that took the clubhouse target of four-under, a nervous wait ensued to see if Elli could match him. In the end, a wayward tee shot on the last proved costly for the Italian and with it, Berry claimed the honours.
Elli’s closing 72 matched him in tied-second position with PGA of Spain Professional, Peter Gustafsson who closed with a three-under 69.
Team Bond [pictured above] led by GB&I Professional, Liam Bond, and his amateurs, Ivan Skripkin, Nikita Skripkin and Andrey Stolyarov, took the team prize with a total score of 263 points (-47), followed by Team Yamac (with amateurs Catalina Jigman, Bogdan Jigman and Kenan Güngör) in second on 257 points (-41).
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Find out more about BlackSeaRama Golf & Villas at www.blacksearama.com.
