Proud members Scott and Senior were both at Sanctuary Cove on Monday to present Burns with the trophy after his round of 4-under 68 gave him a two-stroke victory from reigning Order of Merit champion Andre Stolz (70).

The leading names on the PGA Legends Tour took the opportunity to play the highly-acclaimed The Pines layout presented in spectacular condition but it was Burns who stood alongside the tournament hosts at day’s end.

“It’s good that Peter and Adam have actually got on board with the pro-am here at Sanctuary Cove and putting a lot of effort back into the game,” said Burns.

“Adam’s a fantastic bloke and everyone knows Peter and the effort that he has put into the Australian Legends Tour and continues to do so.

“I’ve had about 10 seconds this year so it’s nice not to be the bridesmaid for a change.”

HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED

With the Sanctuary Cove greens running at 13 on the Stimpmeter, putting was destined to be the deciding factor.

For Burns, an early misstep was a reminder that the flatstick had to be firing.

He three-putted his opening hole – the par-4 14th – but responded with birdies at 15 and 17 to get back into red numbers.

Birdies at the par-5 third and the short par-4 sixth maintained his momentum but it was the chip-in for birdie at the par-5 ninth that would prove the difference.

“It helped,” Burns admitted.

“I was 3-under playing nine and hit my tee shot into the bunker. I cold-nutted my next shot down the fairway, hit my 3-hybrid left and hit a great chip in the hole.

“It was very unexpected but I’ll take it for sure.”

Four birdies in the space of seven holes on the back nine provided the cornerstone of Stolz’s 2-under 70, late bogeys at 18 and two preventing him from matching Burns’s total.

Straight off the plane after earning his PGA TOUR Champions card for 2024, David Bransdon shot 71 to finish in a tie for third with Gold Coast Senior PGA champion Euan Walters, Steven Conran and David McKenzie.

WHAT THE WINNER SAID

“Greens were fantastic. Running at 13 and very, very quick,” said Burns.

“I three-putted the first one from 20 feet, left the next one 10-feet past and three-putted it but besides that played quite nicely.

“It’s a fantastic facility. Thirty-six holes around here. It’s the first time that I’ve played here on The Pines course since the XSL tournament back in the 90s.”

LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1          Brad Burns                   68
2          Andre Stolz                  70
T3        Steve Conran               71
T3        David Bransdon           71
T3        Euan Walters                71
T3        David McKenzie           71

NEXT UP

The 2023 PGA Legends Tour season comes to a close with the Sunshine Coast Swing, starting with the Noosa Atlas Golf Services Legends Pro-Am at Noosa Golf Course on Tuesday.