Dorset professional Martyn Thompson and five-handicap amateur Andy Boyd are on their way to a fabulous week in Portugal after becoming the first regional winners of the Lombard Trophy.

They won the South West qualifier at the championship Saunton links in North Devon after the closest finish in the history of the largest Pro-am in Europe.

Another Dorset duo, Kevin Spurgeon and Tom Peacock from Dudsbury, were the clubhouse leaders for more than four hours before the Parkstone pair matched their seven-under-par 64 better-ball score.

Their back nines were identical so the decisive hole was traced back to the first. Thompson, last year's West Region champion, started with three successive birdies.

His three on the 470-yard opening hole separated the teams and gives him the chance to win the £7,500 first prize at the grand final at the spectacular San Lorenzo course on The Algarve on September 5-9.

Thompson, 33, represented the region in the Volvo PGA Championship alongside Barry Austin (Teign Valley) last month after finishing runner-up in the order of merit.

He said: "I played a practice round at Wentworth the day before and that helped. I fancied our chances as Andy is very handy off his handicap and he was always there backing me up.

"He used his shots well and came in with three net birdies. I've had a good winter looking forward to Wentworth, now I can spend the summer looking forward to the Lombard final."

Boyd, 39, who sells cruises for a living, said: "It's fantastic. Martyn played superbly and holed a great 15-footer on the last to make it all possible."

Dorset county champion Peacock, 22, who plays off plus-three, suffered when his two twos on the par-three fifth and 13th holes were recorded as net threes as he was required to play off plus-two.

Spurgeon, 48, who plays on the PGA Over 40's Tour and went round in 66 himself, said: "It is a disappointing way to finish second but we now hope Martyn and Andy go on to win in Portugal."

Peacock said: "It is probably a little unfair that I have to concede two shots while professionals play off scratch, but we put up a great show despite this disadvantage.

"We missed loads of putts as the greens were slow and we could have been 10 or 11 under with a little more luck."

Spurgeon added: "I went round in 66 and Tom matched me on a lot of holes and improved on me twice. A pity about those three putts I left in the jaws of the hole."

David Hawker, 31, the club pro at the Taunton municipal course at Vivary Park, and Colin Murphy, 30, a warehouseman, also finished on 64. But they knew within half-an-hour that they had missed the main prize on countback.

Murphy, playing off six, came in on ten holes. They picked up four shots on the final three holes of the front nine.

Bude and North Cornwall professional John Yeo was on a winner whatever happened. As captain of the PGA, he will receive a special invitation to the final.

He and his amateur partner Adrian Parsons had the pleasure of the company of the only woman in the field, 34-year-old Libbaton pro Sarah Burnell who played with Mike Turner, off 18. They scored 69.

Just three shots separated the first 27 teams from an entry of 74 pairs from all over the West Country for the first of 16 regional finals to be held in Britain and Ireland.

The Lombard Trophy, sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland, is established as Europe's biggest pro-am, attracting 100,000 amateurs from 1,200 clubs each year.

It allows the ordinary club golfer, qualifying from his club's special Lombard medal competition, the chance of a dream trip to Portugal. The scoring is based on the better ball of the professional and his amateur.

The winning professional receives £7,500 from a prize fund of £35,000 in the 36-hole better ball final.