An amateur golfer from Painswick is one step closer to playing with a star of the European Tour after winning a prestigious Bridgestone event on his club’s calendar.

Brendan Nunan won Bridgestone UK tyre division’s DriveGuard Trophy at Painswick Golf Club, which has put him on a journey for a round at the Pro-Am of the British Masters, supported by Sky Sports, in October.

The five handicapper won the medal competition with a score a 59, which now qualifies him for a regional final at Oxfordshire’s Heythrop Park on Saturday 30 July, followed by a Pro-Am appearance at the Bridgestone Challenge – a Challenge Tour event – at the end of August also at Heythrop Park.

And if Brendan is part of the winning team at Heythrop, he will then go on to play at the Pro-Am of the British Masters, supported by Sky Sports, at The Grove in October, where he will play with a household name of the sport.

The 66-year-old is looking forward to the next stages of the Bridgestone DriveGuard Trophy, and potentially playing alongside a European Tour star at the British Masters Pro-Am at The Grove in October.

Brendan said; “I’ve never played at Heythrop Park before, so I’m really looking forward to testing myself in the next round against some top golfers.”

“To play in the British Master Pro-Am would be fantastic. It would be a great experience to compete alongside some of the top golfers on the European Tour. Playing with Luke Donald would be brilliant, he is a great golfer and his putting is amazing.”

Bridgestone is embarking on an exciting golf sponsorship quite unique to the UK tyre industry, featuring a European Tour event partnership with the British Masters, supported by Sky Sports, the resurrection of an English based Challenge Tour tournament and a nationwide amateur competition with nearly 200 other clubs.

Brendan added; “I’m absolutely delighted to have won the Bridgestone DriveGuard Trophy at Painswick. I’m the club captain and it was my idea to sign us up for the DriveGuard Trophy, so to win is a brilliant result for me.”

The highlight of a brilliant performance came at the 12th hole, a long 250 yard Par Three. He added; “I was really pleased how I played the 12th hole. It’s a long, downhill Par Three and I managed to hit my first shot to the middle of the green. I then holed a difficult putt for a great birdie.”

The DriveGuard Trophy is free to enter and accessible to golfers of all ages and handicaps and is open to men, women and juniors.

It has been named after an innovative new range of Bridgestone tyres called DriveGuard, which allow drivers to maintain control after a puncture and safely continue for 50 miles and speeds up to 50mph, or a safe destination to organise a replacement.

Bridgestone’s north region consumer sales and marketing director Farrell Dolan said: “We have identified huge potential from the world of golf and are extremely excited to be entering into a series of sponsorships covering such a broad range of the sport.

“We will be engaging with hundreds of amateur players who will already be familiar with our brand and we have structured our sponsorships to actually give them an opportunity to play at the very top of the game.”

Before every club event, each participant receives a voucher to play in the Bridgestone DriveGuard Trophy, along with a tyre offer.

This enables them to qualify for a British Masters supported by Sky Sports shoe bag when purchasing four Bridgestone DriveGuard tyres in the next six months, along with a dozen of Bridgestone golf balls.