With water lurking at every twist and turn of the Central Coast layout, Burge banked on his numbers to navigate his way to a round of 6-under 66 in his first visit to Kooindah Waters.

A former regular on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, Burge is now the Assistant Professional at Wakehurst Golf Club in Sydney, the 50-year-old thrilled to finally get a win in his rookie season.

“I’ve been getting frustrated, shooting even par every tournament we’ve played just about the last 10-15 rounds,” said Burge.

“It was nice to actually make a few birdies for a change.”

Burge’s 66 in the morning wave held firm at the top of the leaderboard, Chris Taylor’s 4-under 68 the best of the afternoon scores with Leigh McKechnie (69) and Scott Laycock (70) finishing third and fourth respectively.

HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED

Early indications were good that Burge’s fortunes were going to turn at Kooindah Waters.

Starting from the 10th tee, Burge busted open with three straight birdies to begin his round, making it four from five at the short par-4 14th.

He made the first of three bogeys on his round at the par-4 16th but turned in 4-under thanks to a birdie at the par-3 17th.

Burge birdied the par-5 first to start his back nine, picked up another at the par-3 fourth and then eagled the par-5 fifth after hitting his 4-iron to eight feet and making the putt to reach 8-under.

Late bogeys at six and eight sucked some of the joy from Burge’s brilliant round but it was still enough to secure a two-stroke win.

WHAT THE WINNER SAID

“Hit the ball really solid and putted solid,” said Burge.

“Had a lot of chances and holed all the putts I should, apart from a couple. Hit a lot of greens and was really focused.

“I didn’t know where I was going, so I had to just use my laser to work out where to hit it and hit it there.”

LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1          Ben Burge                    66
2          Chris Taylor                  68
3          Leigh McKechnie          69
4          Scott Laycock               70
T5        Robert Mitchell             71
T5        David Van Raalte          71
T5        Peter O’Malley             71

NEXT UP

Thursday sees one of the most popular events of the PGA Legends Tour season, the $80,000 David Mercer Senior Classic at Killara Golf Club in Sydney.