Representing the PGA of Australia against PGA Professionals from South Africa, Canada and New Zealand, the team of Matthew Guyatt (Gailes GC), Murray Lott (Victoria Park), Jamie Hook (Pacific Dunes GC) and TJ King (Mount Coolum GC) have spent the past two days adjusting to the conditions and formulating pairings.

They have chosen to pair veterans Guyatt and Lott together and Hook and King for the fourball betterball matches against Canada on Friday that will kick-off the annual competition from 3.08pm AEST.

Day one will conclude with four-way match play singles matches to be followed by two rounds of betterball on Saturday and then the winners will be crowned on Sunday following a second round of singles matches.

The Aussie team completed their preparations with a practice round on Thursday, captain Guyatt confident that they have made the necessary adjustments to be competitive over the coming three days.

“Altitude has been a great challenge for all of us to try and figure out how far the ball is going,” Guyatt admitted of playing in a city 1,753 metres above sea level.

“We think (it’s going) around 11 to 14 per cent extra so just working out all the math around that.

“There’s a massive premium on tee-shot positioning on this golf course because if you get yourself off-line or into the rough near the tree-line the recovery shots are very difficult to find the putting surfaces.

“It also forces you to hit into spaces where pin locations are very, very difficult to have a crack at.

“Fairways are important and the boys have done a great job the past couple of days in figuring all that out.

“The boys have gelled together exceptionally well. We’re loving the time that we’re spending together, it’s been awesome.”

Winner of the PGA Professionals Championship at Links Hope Island in January to secure his spot in the team, Hook is feeling more and more comfortable with each day on course.

“Hard to get the judgement and trust of the distances but getting there and feeling more comfortable with it,” he added.

“The game’s good. Getting better and better as we keep playing. Need a couple of putts to drop and I think we’ll be right where we want to be.”

Although TJ King is threatening to pull the course to pieces with his prodigious length, placement and positioning shapes as the recipe for success at the parkland layout ranked inside the top 25 in South Africa.

“Placement is key off the tee and knowing your game,” said Lott, the senior member of Team Australia.

“Having respect for some of the holes is crucial but I think all of us are at a skill level where we probably do that anyway.

“Unless we hit it 400 like TJ King.”

Prior to the two practice rounds the Australian team was contemplating pairing youth and experience in each group, ultimately deciding that complementary games might be more effective in the betterball format.

Lott was Guyatt’s short game coach when he was playing on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and in Japan, the pair’s history together also including appearances at the Queensland Foursomes Championship.

“‘Muzz’ and I have played a fair bit together over the years,” said Guyatt.

“We’ve played some Queensland PGA Foursomes together and he was my short game coach when I was playing on tour so we know each other’s games quite well.

“You want someone that knows you well and knows the right things to say at the right time, press the right buttons.

“We’ve spent a lot of time together working on my game. He knows it extremely well so we’ll certainly be a nice pairing and get along exceptionally well, which sometimes in matches is exactly what you want.”

As for the all-important Sunday singles, Guyatt is leaning towards a premonition that Lott had while en route to South Africa.

“Murray had a vision on the plane on the way over that I was filming TJ having a putt to win the tournament on the last green on Sunday,” Guyatt added.

“We’re going to honour that vision and premonition and let TJ play in the one spot on Sunday.”

For Four Nations Cup scores and draws click here.

Four Nations Cup – Day 1
Betterball Matches AEST
3.08pm Jamie Hook/TJ King (AUS) v Gordon Burns/Kevin Stinson (CAN)  
3.17pm Murray Lott/Matthew Guyatt (AUS) v Pierre-Alexandre Bedard/Branson Ferrier (CAN)

Singles Matches (Four-way Match Play)
Murray Lott (AUS) v Pierre van Vuuren (SA) v Gordon Burns (CAN) v Dongwoo Kang (NZ)
Matthew Guyatt (AUS) v Calvin Caldeira (SA) v Kevin Stinson (CAN) v Pieter Zwart (NZ)
Jamie Hook (AUS) v Dane Vosioo (SA) v Branson Ferrier (CAN) v Jared Pender (NZ)
TJ King (AUS) v Duane Keun (SA) v Pierre-Alexandre Bedard (CAN) v Brad Shilton (NZ)