Andrew Kelly has won the Mowbray Golf Club Pro-Am in Tasmania to claim his third pro-am victory in 2019.

In stellar form early this year, Kelly took a one shot victory over Ben Murphy, Nick Dastey and Scott Priest with a score of 4-under 67 at Mowbray Golf Club.

Playing a consistent game, Kelly again proved he is a player to beat in the final event of the Tasmanian swing.

“I had a great time in Tasmania and I am happy to get a win,” said Kelly.

Nick Dastey started his day well with birdies on his opening four holes, while Ben Murphy’s early form faded late with a double bogey on his 17^th hole securing his second place finish at 3-under 68.

A total of 34 professionals were greeted with stunning weather on the apple isle while all competitors praised the course conditions.

“The course was in great shape and I managed to play well with few mistakes,” Kelly added.

“Thanks to the sponsors and supporters for making the event such a great one to be a part of.”

Mitchell Brown handed in a blemish free card to take out the Launceston Kitchen Centre Pro-Am at Mowbray Golf Club with a round of 5-under 66.

Brown overcame a field including 2017 Victorian / Tasmanian Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series Order of Merit winner Mitchell A Brown, Scott Laycock and recent winners on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series Ben Ford and Luke Hickman.

Brown began his round from the 1^st tee and opened with five straight pars before making back-to-back birdies on the 6^th and 7^th.

He recorded a birdie on the 11^th to move to 4-under, which seemed to be enough in the conditions.

Brown then made six straight pars before recording a birdie on the last hole to go to 5-under and secure the win.

“I played quite nicely today, nice and steady,” said Brown.

“I thought the score was around about the mark. I birdied my last hole, which I thought I needed to do.

“It was a nice round, stress-free and bogey-free, which is always good.”

This was the final event on a 10 day swing through Tasmania with Professionals playing for over $58,000 in prize money.

The next best round of the day was Scott Laycock who got off to a slightly slow start after making bogey on the 5^th, his second hole.

However he hit back with birdies on the 7^th, 9^th, 11^th, 13^th and 16^th to move to 4-under the card, one behind Brown with four holes to play.

Laycock made a costly bogey at the par-4 17^th to drop back to 3-under, then immediately hit back with a birdie on the 18^th but when he could only manage two straight pars to finish his round he was left in clear second place on 4-under 67.

In-form players on the Tasmanian swing Ben Ford and Scott Priest continued on their way, tying with James Corkhill and Launceston Professional Daniel Smith for 3^rd on 2-under 69.

After 10 days of golf throughout Tasmania Brown was full of praise for the host clubs throughout the state.

“They have put on great events and it’s been most welcoming,” added Brown.

“The greens were really good on the course today, there were a couple of dry spots on the back-9 just due to a lack of water.

“But it played well and I didn’t have a lie on a fairway where I thought it wasn’t fair, so it was a great day.”

Launceston Kitchen Centre continued their support for Professional golf in the state by increasing the purse to $18k, making the event the largest pro-am on the Tasmanian schedule.

“There are not that many one-day $18,000 events anywhere, let alone in Tasmania, so it’s just awesome," added Brown.

The Launceston Kitchen Centre Mowbray Pro-Am will be the feature event on the Ladbrokes PGA Pro-Am Series when it returns to Tasmania in 2018.

On Sunday 4 March the best Professionals from across Tasmania and around Australia do battle for the Launceston Kitchen Centre Mowbray Pro-Am.

A decision by Mowbray Golf Club to change from their traditional Friday to a Sunday was driven by the want to have more people engage with the tournament and see exactly what Mowbray Golf Club has to offer.

“By moving to a Sunday we are hoping to get plenty of families to come out and watch and see exactly how good it is here at Mowbray Golf Club,” said Mowbray Golf Club General Manager Patrick Bessell.

Mowbray Golf Club also decided to increase the prize money and are now the richest Pro-Am in Tasmania with the players vying for a share of the $20,000 purse.

“We really have Leigh at Launceston Kitchen Centre to thank for that.  He wanted to make the event the biggest and the best in Tasmania and we are in a great position to attract the best PGA Professionals who regularly play on the Pro-Am Series to come to Mowbray for the event.” added Bessell

“With the higher profile players comes more attention and therefore more exposure for our facility here at Mowbray.”

This event will now be the finale to a schedule that stretches across 11 days for the Professionals in Tasmania.  Starting down south the Series will head north for a finish that includes the three biggest events all in a row.

“We’ve got a great schedule of events for 2018, our players will be travelling right across the state and playing at some fantastic courses next February and March,” said Nick Dastey VIC/TAS/SA State Manager for the PGA of Australia.

“The Launceston Kitchen Centre Mowbray Pro-Am will be the final event on the Tasmania swing that finishes with three days in a row at Ulverstone Golf Club on Friday and the Prospect Vale / Country Club Pro-Am on the Saturday.”