2024 was the year I decided to start playing more competitive golf and with Gerard’s support, I was able to take some time off at the start of April and make my way down to Melbourne to participate in the PGA Tour of Australasia’s Qualifying School (Q School) at Moonah Links GC. This event requires professionals and amateurs to take part in the 2-stage event to receive their PGA Tour of Australasia playing rights for the 2024/25 season.
The first stage of the event had 2 sections and I was allocated section B to be played on the Open Course at Moonah Links. This stage was played over 3 rounds with the Top 18 players qualifying for the final stage. After 2 rounds I was sitting at 6th place at 4 under par (Even par & 4 under). The final round was quite stressful and although not my best performance (6 over par), I was able to qualify for final stage at 18th place, last man in!
After a couple of days off to prepare for final stage to be played on the Open Course, it was time to play! At the end of final stage, it would be the Top 30 players that receive their tour cards. The first 2 rounds had me sitting pretty at 8th place (1 under par, 3 under par). The third round was a bit frustrating with a 1 over par round dropping me back to 12th place and the nerves and stress well and truly started to kick in! After shooting another disappointing final round of 6 over par, I thought I had missed my chance of gaining a tour card until one of my mates ran over to me and said “Well done mate, you’re in” – I finished in a tie for 29th place and that earnt me a tour card to play on the PGA Tour of Australasia for the 2024/25 season!!
These 2 weeks were a real eye opener into how well these guys play and just how tough it is to be able to play golf for a living! It still hasn’t sunk in that I am going to be playing on Tour this year and looking at the schedule, it’s going to be a busy yet exciting year ahead!
I know tour life is going to be a challenge, not just in maintaining a high standard of golf but also financially. I have saved a nest-egg however with travel expenses and accommodation, each event will incur, on average between $1500 and $2000 including support at home from sports psychologists nutritionists and personal trainers not to mention my normal living costs. I’m keen to give myself the best opportunity to be successful and have prepared a potential sponsorship plan that I’d be happy to discuss with anyone interested in providing support to help kickstart my career on the PGA Australasian Tour for 2024/2025.