St Ives golf professional James Mynott came within an ace of winning last Friday’s Pro-Am at Ely City – the club where he learnt to play the game.

Mynott, 30, still lives two minutes from the course and was so close to success on his old stamping-ground after a brilliant round.

He didn’t drop a shot in 18 holes, picking up four birdies along the way as he posted a score of 68.

But he was denied victory right at the death by Ian Ellis – the last player out on the course.

The Norfolk professional drained a 10-footer for birdie on the final green to record a five-under score of 67.

But Mynott remained upbeat and said: “It was nice to come back and play a good round.

“I hadn’t been playing well the end of July, start of August, so I wasn’t really expecting too much.

“But to go to Ely and play well, I was really pleased. I didn’t even look like dropping shots, which was really good for the confidence.”

For Ellis, it was a fourth win at Ely. He said: “I should move here!”

Indeed, the Great Yarmouth and Caister professional holds the record for the lowest round at Ely, firing a 10-under-par 62 when he won there in 2011.

He didn’t quite replicate such a scoring spree this time around but still shone with a fabulous five-under total.

In a thrilling finish, Ellis delivered his birdie blow at the 432-yard 18th, which was playing tough with rain and pouring wind in his face.

There hadn’t been a three at the demanding par-4 all day, but Ellis arrowed a superb 5-iron into 10 feet before making a downhill putt to clinch the victory.

After his latest Ely triumph, Ellis said: “I’m really pleased with that.

“I’ve been struggling to score...here I putted a lot better and that kind of made the difference. I holed one from about 40 foot on the first for birdie and 30 foot on 11.

“It was nice to birdie the last as well...a little downhiller from left to right for birdie. And the win notches up my confidence a little bit. That’s three straight rounds in the 60s.”

Mynott’s second-place finish should serve as a boost before he competes in the PGA East region’s final 2016 Order of Merit tournament – the East Anglian Open at Rayleigh Club in Essex next month (September 21-22).