After a short 2 week stint back in the Pro Shop at MVGC, it was time to return to the Pro Am circuit and begin a new chapter in my career and play golf full time as a professional. First up was Ocean Shores Pro Am on the Far North Coast, followed by Ballina Pro Am, Coolangatta Pro Am and McLeod GC Pro Am.
OCEAN SHORES Pro Am
Ocean Shores Golf Club is located 15 minutes north of Brunswick Heads and is a unique golf course with 6 par 3’s, 6 par 4’s and 6 par 5’s. It is probably one of the longest courses I have ever played with all the Par 5s over 500m and uphill.
After a limited amount of preparation due to working in the shop, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect during my round and sometimes that’s a good thing.
Starting on the 18th hole (530m Par 5 uphill!), I was able to shake off a rusty start and make 2 birdies and 1 bogey to be 1 under after 10 holes. As the wind picked up, the mindset changed from being aggressive to being a bit more conservative off the tee and hitting 3 wood or rescue to be in scoreable position. This made a big difference and I went on to make 3 more birdies and 1 bogey standing on the last tee at 3 under. Unfortunately, a slightly pulled tee shot and a chunky chip shot resulted in a bogey finish and a round of 2 under par 70 and ended up tied for 4th 2 shots behind the leader.
Not a bad start!
BALLINA Pro Am
Feeling good about my game after Ocean Shores, it was time to take on Ballina GC. A short, tight but great course that required some strategy on the tee shots. The greens at Ballina were quite challenging because they were firm, fast and super grainy which makes the ball run more than you think.
Geoff Lange (former MVGC member, thanks to Greg Stanford for setting this up) was my caddy for the day and was very helpful in the course management process and telling me where the best spots were to miss the green.
Starting on the 11th hole, I opened my round with 2 regulation pars and moved to the par 5 13th hole where I chipped in for an eagle 3 and got my round off to the perfect start followed by a birdie at the very next hole. However, 2 bogies in a row on 16 and 17 had me very annoyed at myself but was able to bounce back with 2 birdies in a row on the 18th hole and 1st hole. Another birdie at the Par 5 6th hole and a few great saves for par, I was standing on my last hole (10th Hole) at 4 under par and thinking 1 more birdie would be good enough. A chip in at the last for a 5 under par 67 round, a quick look at the leaderboard and I was leading – that was until I signed my card and the eventual winner had eagled his last hole to bet me by 1 shot!!
A great result nevertheless and a real confidence booster.
COOLANGATTA Pro Am
This was my first time playing at Coolangatta Tweed Golf course. There are 2 courses here – River Course and West Course. The Pro Am was played on the West course and it was a course with lots of dog leg holes and water on pretty much every hole. After starting on the 4th hole and getting off to a great start being 3 under after 10 holes with 4 birdies and 1 bogey, a huge mental lapse and lack of concentration saw me go 7 over the next 9 holes and finish the round at 4 over par and tied for 33rd. A day of ‘What could have been’ turned to ‘what happened’ and after a post round review, I was able to identify that I was starting to get very tired towards the end and when I get tired, I tend to start swinging to quickly and therefore my rhythm disappears, and inconsistency appears. A day of learning that’s for sure!
MCLEOD Pro Am
What a name this golf course is! I loved it before I even set foot on the course!
An interesting fact about this club is that it was named after Gertrude McLeod as she was a lifelong advocate for the evolution of golf in Australia especially for women and in 1968, McLeod GC became an all women golf club.
Moving on, the golf course itself is very tight and not overly long in length but that doesn’t mean you can bomb a driver everywhere. It requires strategy and placement on all the holes is essential to good scoring.
Starting on the 4th hole and beginning with 8 pars in a row to start, 2 missed short putts for par on 12 and 13 followed another 6 straight pars led to a 2 over par round. A very frustrating day on the links but with a slight improvement in the ball striking, I am feeling a good round coming soon!
What’s next
Although there are some mixed results from the last couple of events, there are some positive signs to take out of each performance as I build my game for the PGA Tour of Australasia season commencing in October. It has also been a real eye opener in how to prepare for each event just by watching how the other players warm up whether it be stretching, hitting balls or completing putting drills before their round.
One of the biggest things that I have noticed with life on tour and constantly travelling from place to place is to look after my body as much as I can. Whether its eating healthy consistently, drinking 3 litres of water a day minimum (very important as right now in QLD each day is above 30 degrees) or stretching before or after a round, the body plays a massive part in performing well and all of these factors also contribute to the mental performance as well.
As the saying goes ‘Look Good, Feel Good, Play Good’.
The next events are as follows:
- Murwillumabah GC Pro Am (5th September)
- Grafton GC Pro Am (6th September)
- Yamba (7th – 8th September)