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A buoyant Austin Bautista thinks he can turn his Webex Players Series South Australia victory into something even bigger – No.1 on the end-of-season Challenger PGA Tour Order of Merit.
Bautista chased down the leaders at Willunga with a back nine 29 on Sunday to score a one-shot victory, ending a run of frustrating results.
The $36,000 winner’s cheque was the 26-year-old’s biggest payday on Tour and the 190.00 points he gained launched the Sydney professional from 55th to second on the Order of Merit standings, trailing only South Australia’s Lachlan Barker.
Thanks to one memorable Sunday afternoon, Bautista is on track for a major improvement to his 83rd place on last season’s Order of Merit when he went without a top 10 finish.
“Something personal happened in April/May last year and it just took me time to recover from it,” he said.
“It was very upsetting and I lost confidence. I’m a very confidence-based player. When it gets rolling, it’s good. But when I hit the floor, it isn’t good.
“It took me time to get back to where I want to be and here I am, holding a trophy.
“I’ll play the rest of the season here in Australia. Keep doing what I’m doing and keep playing as much as I can.
“I know I’m capable of winning the Order of Merit. I know I have got the game to do it and I can make the putts when I have to.
“I’ve just got to get the job done.”
Three other Tour winners this year – Ben Eccles, Simon Hawkes and Daniel Gale – round out the Order of Merit top five after five of 18 events for the 2023/24 season.
The consistent Andrew Campbell, who tied for second at Willunga, has improved his position to sixth, one ahead of Josh Greer who is knocking on the door of a win in his debut year, finishing T11, T9 and T2 in his last three starts.
Greer now leads the Rookie of the Year standings from Chris Crabtree and Connor McKinney.
The top three on the Order of Merit at the completion of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season earn cards on the DP World Tour in 2025. The winner of the Order of Merit also receives a spot in the field at The Open Championship.
Order of Merit standings through Webex Players Series South Australia
1 Lachlan Barker 240.90 (5)
2 Austin Bautista 209.29 (4)
3 Ben Eccles 205.13 (4)
4 Simon Hawkes 199.13 (4)
5 Daniel Gale 190.00 (2)
6 Andrew Campbell 156.91 (5)
7 Josh Greer 125.54 (4)
8 Michael Wright 125.29 (5)
9 Chris Crabtree 116.69 (4)
10 Haydn Barron 107.00 (2)
Victorian pair Tim Elliott and Euan Walters held their nerve longest to earn a share of victory at the inaugural LDC Moree Legends Pro-Am at Moree Golf Club.
Only one player broke 70 across the two days of competition, the firm greens not only making the putts slick but punishing any player who ventured through the back edge.
Elliott, four-time PGA Legends Tour winner Mark Boulton, Simon Tooman and Andy Rogers entered day two with a share of the lead after rounds of 2-under 70 on Thursday.
Elliott began his second round with a dropped shot at the par-5 18th as Yamba Legends Pro-Am champion Andre Stolz made his move.
Two back at the start of Round 2, Stolz found himself with a one-shot lead after two early birdies.
He would remain with at least a share of the lead through the next four holes before a triple bogey at the par-4 14th sent him tumbling down the leaderboard.
He responded with a birdie at the very next hole but despite an eagle and a birdie late, a bogey at his final hole would ultimately leave Stolz one shot shy.
Birdies at three, eight and nine ensured Elliott would stay near the top of the leaderboard, a bogey at his third-last hole seeing him sign for an even par 72 and 2-under total.
“I found the course very difficult. The greens were very firm,” said Elliott.
“I went over a couple of greens early on in my round and learnt that you don’t go over the back unless you want to take bogey.
“I just kept playing. I don’t let too much worry me. I made three or four more birdies and then of course made a bogey on my third-last hole on the par 5 which wasn’t much chop.”
Starting the day two shots adrift, Walters’ hopes looked to have taken a dive when he made a double-bogey six on the third hole of his second round.
But that would be his only miss-step, showing wonderful control of his ball to birdie 10, 11, 14 and 17 and match Elliott’s score of 2-under.
Stolz and Murray Lott (70) shared third spot with Tooman (74) and Roland Baglin (72) tied for fifth at even par.
The PGA Careers in Golf Open Day will return this year, showcasing everything a career in golf has to offer.
The PGA Careers in Golf Open Day will return this year, showcasing everything a career in golf have to offer.
The Golf Learning Hub at Sandhurst will again open its doors on September 23 to highlight the PGA’s education offerings.
However you want your career in golf to look, the PGA Institute, the Membership Pathway Program and the PGA Academy are here to make it happen.
This year’s open day will provide you with an insight into each of the educational offerings and will also allow you to experience the fantastic facilities on offer for students at the Learning Hub.
By attending, you will also have the opportunity to speak with past and current students and get a sense of where these educational programs can take you.
Offering Australia’s ONLY Diploma of Golf Management, the PGA Institute provides an unrivalled golf-education program. It combines golf management, business and practical golf training to leave graduates best-placed to thrive in their own golfing career.
At the open day, you will have the chance to chat to past and current students, who are setting themselves up for success at the PGA Institute.
What can I study?
One of the world’s most respected golf training programs, the Membership Pathway (MPP) provides a valuable platform to attain the training and education required to become a PGA Professional – Australia’s accredited experts in golf.
For anyone keen to turn their passion for golf into a rewarding career in the industry, the MPP provides real-life skills in the workplace, in addition to undertaking a nationally recognised diploma.
At the Open Day, you will meet:
The PGA Academy boasts a high quality team of PGA qualified coaches and the latest in golf performance technology to take your game to the next level. In addition to coaching services, the PGA Academy offers the Golf Performance Program and the Train Like A Tour Program.
At the Open Day you can…
If you are thinking about coming along to the open day, RSVP now.
We look forward to seeing you on September 23, as you come and learn how to tee up your career in golf!
The PGA Golf Learning Hub is based at Sandhurst Club, 75 Sandhurst Blvd, Sandhurst VIC 3977
South Australia will play host to its first professional mixed golf tournament in October with TPS South Australia coming to the Willunga Golf Club in the famous McLaren Vale wine region.
TPS South Australia will be the first event in the 2023/24 Webex Players Series, an innovative series of tournaments, now held across three states, that sees male and female professionals, elite amateurs, and All Abilities golfers, lining up in the one field on the same golf course.
Hosted by former Australian cricketer and SA golf representative Greg Blewett (pictured, centre, with Millie Whinney and Jack Thompson), the $200,000 tournament from October 19-22 will be the first time both the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia have played in the McLaren Vale region, south of Adelaide.
The WPGA’s most recent event in SA was the Women’s Australian Open in 2020, while the men’s tour hasn’t visited the state for a tournament since the 2007 Jacob’s Creek Open.
Across the weekend of the tournament, 16 junior golfers will also tee off alongside the professionals in their own 36-hole competition.
PGA of Australia Tournaments Director Australasia Nick Dastey said South Australia would see a golf tournament with a difference at Willunga.
“We are delighted to bring the PGA and WPGA tours back to South Australia and in particular, to Willunga Golf Club and the stunning McLaren Vale area,” Dastey said.
“Our TPS calendar is growing at an exciting rate. In just three years, TPS events have grown from two inaugural events to five, giving players fresh and exciting opportunities to compete at the professional level.”
WPGA Tour of Australasia CEO Karen Lunn said: “With our women and men playing on the same course, for the same prizemoney purse and trophy, plus the All-Abilities golfers contesting their event, TPS South Australia will provide something for everyone.
“We are confident South Australians will embrace the innovative, fresh and exciting mixed format and come along in numbers to Willunga in October.”
SA Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing Katrine Hildyard MP said: “This tournament will bring professional golfers to South Australia and the beautiful McLaren Vale wine region – a big win for South Australia and the local area.”
“This unique event includes everyone, with golfers of all abilities – women, men and juniors – playing the same course at the same time. Willunga Golf Club will be the perfect host for this innovative event, which I am sure the local community will embrace” Minister Hildyard said.
Member for Mawson Leon Bignell said: “As the local MP for the region and the chair of SA’s Major Events Committee, this is great news for SA.”
“We have seen a growing appetite for golf in SA, and now some of Australia’s best men and women golfers, all abilities golfers and juniors will be competing in one of the world’s best food and wine regions.”
TPS South Australia joins another new event on the 2023/24 ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia schedule, the Heritage Classic, in Melbourne in January.
A fortuitous bounce on the penultimate hole has helped to secure Matias Sanchez a two-stroke win at the Ian Weigh Toyota Rockhampton Pro-Am at Rockhampton Golf Club.
At $60,000 in prize money, the 54-hole Rockhampton Pro-Am is one of the richest on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series circuit, 2023 marking the 15th year of sponsorship by Ian Weigh Toyota.
Two strokes back of co-leaders Josh Armstrong and James Marchesani at the start of the third and final round, Sanchez arrived at the golf course expecting to need a low number to contend for the title.
Strong winds and fast greens gave him cause to reconsider, quickly deciding to make par his friend as he sought to advance up the leaderboard.
Three straight birdies was the perfect start but it would be birdies at his final two holes that would seal the deal, including a favourable bounce on 17 following a wayward tee shot.
“I got a lucky break on 17,” admitted Sanchez.
“I hit 3-wood into the trees and it spat back out on the fairway and gave me a good look and I ended up making birdie.
“I thought I had to shoot a pretty low number to start the day but as it turned out, when we got to the golf course it was pretty windy and the greens were a foot quicker than they were the first two days.
“The game-plan changed pretty quickly just to keep it in play and accumulate as many pars as possible.
“Thrilled to get my first victory and want to thank my coach Tim Wendel and my entire support crew for their help in getting me to this point.”
Sanchez shot 4-under 68 on the final day to finish at 10-under par, two clear of Armstrong (72) and Doug Klein (70).
Armstrong arrived at the final hole needing to birdie the par-5 18th to join Sanchez at 10-under but made bogey to drop to 8-under and level with Klein.
Aaron Wilkin produced the round of the week on Sunday to finish in a tie for fourth with Brett Rankin (71), Wilkin’s 7-under 65 starting with three straight bogeys followed by eight straight birdies.
In the Junior Pro-Am held in conjunction on Sunday, Zane Blackborough (pictured, centre) won the Gross title with a round of 72 while Lilly McGuinness (pictured, left) won the Nett event with 70.
The next event on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series is the Tin Can Bay Pro-Am on Tuesday followed by the Breakas Beach Resort Vanuatu Virginia Pro-Am at Virginia Golf Club on Friday.
Like many Aussie kids, Arthur Barakat’s introduction to golf came through his father. After watching his dad head off to Cumberland Country Golf Club with his friends after taking up the sport later in life, eight-year-old Arthur soon began to tag along. He was almost instantly besotted by a sport his grandparents knew nothing about.
That is the reality of second and third generation Australians of migrant parents whose direct family members come from countries where golf is traditionally played by only a select few.
There is only one golf course in Lebanon – the Golf Club of Lebanon in Beirut – but Barakat is one of a handful of Lebanese golfers around the world who have been chosen to help grow the game within the Lebanese community.
By flying the flag of Lebanon in top amateur and professional tournaments, Barakat hopes to open the game up to a whole generation of golfers from many communities who might never have had the opportunity to play.
“We’re trying to grow the game of golf for kids of all different backgrounds,” said Barakat, who is in the third year of the PGA of Australia’s Membership Pathway Program at Cumberland Country Golf Club in western Sydney.
“When I first started playing junior golf and pennants, there wasn’t really many people from the Middle East playing. I see now with a lot of the kids that I coach, there’s a lot more kids from different backgrounds and different nationalities.”
Featured in the Daily Telegraph as a 15-year-old with aspirations of playing on the PGA TOUR, Barakat’s amateur results caught the eye of the Lebanese Golf Federation.
In truth, they were simply looking for golfers of Lebanese background with handicaps.
In Lebanon, the LGF tries to spread the game of golf through visits to schools but they recognised that assisting Lebanese players to reach the highest level of the sport would be an inspiration in itself.
When the likes of Min Woo Lee, David Micheluzzi, Zach Murray, Blake Windred and Dylan Perry were representing Australia at the 2018 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, Barakat was also on the leaderboard, the Lebanese flag displayed proudly beside his name.
At The DGC Open in Delhi in March, Barakat and American Peter Badawy created history as the first Lebanese players to tee it up in an Asian Tour event.
His ultimate aspiration remains to play on the PGA TOUR but Barakat knows that any exposure to high-level professional golf will trickle down to an increase in people of Lebanese descent taking up the game.
“There might be some Lebanese kids in Sydney or America who never really thought about taking up the game,” Barakat reasons.
“I know with my grandparents, some of them don’t even know what golf is.
“Us being there flying the flag is motivating for these kids.
“I couldn’t have done it without the support of the members at Cumberland. They raised the money for me to be able to go.
“To be honest, I think they might have been even more excited than I was!”
Two paths into professional golf
When Barakat made an admittedly nervy start to the opening round of The DGC Open, he had a steadying influence right by his side.
In something of a reversal of their regular routine, Barakat had Cumberland Country Golf Club PGA Professional Joanne Bannerman on the bag.
As Barakat tossed up whether to pursue a university degree or chase his dream of becoming a professional golfer, it was Bannerman who opened his eyes to opportunities offered by the Membership Pathway Program.
COVID-19 may have delayed his start date by a year but Barakat began the MPP in 2021 and has never looked back.
Not only has he received awards for his academic performance, Barakat has won a number of open matches, crediting Bannerman for the support she has provided every step of the way.
“Jo has been a massive influence on me,” Barakat added.
“She was on annual leave the week before my first PGA Associate match. She came back from her holiday to give me a lesson and help me out before my first tournament. I’ll never forget that. I don’t know how many supervising pros who would do that.
“Jo is always learning and improving and it was great to see her win the 2020 PGA National Club Professional of the Year. She really deserves that.”
Barakat, too, is having a positive influence on the membership at Cumberland.
By representing his heritage so proudly, he shows junior golfers that there is a place within golf for everyone, no matter their background.
He estimates that there are now more than 10 Cumberland members of Lebanese background and is regularly encouraging them to bring friends out to play at the club.
Just as he hopes to provide inspiration by his own performances on the golf course on the global stage, Barakat acknowledges that as a PGA Professional he can have a significant impact at a local level.
“There’s only one golf club in Lebanon at the moment, which I visited back in 2019,” Barakat said.
“Their goal is to bring joy and a refuge for kids to go and play the sport and just bring joy to people.
“In Lebanon at the moment it’s still pretty tough, in terms of living circumstances. It’s still a Third World country, especially with the explosion they had there in 2020 which wasn’t good and set the country back a fair bit.
“They’re trying to find role models around the world who come from a Lebanese background and try and inspire kids to take up the sport, not only in Lebanon but around the world.
“If I can be a role model for some of those kids to look up to as a PGA Professional, that’s a massive achievement I think.”
But now that he has had a taste of life on tour, Barakat has been inspired himself to continue to chase his dreams.
Once he completes the MPP at the end of this year he will seek further playing opportunities internationally, the prospect of representing Lebanon at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles an enticing one.
“We talked about having an Olympic team coming up in the next Olympics after Paris. That would be massive for the game of golf in Lebanon,” Barakat said.
Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester, New York is hosting the 105th edition of the PGA Championship, the second major of the year for men, this week.
It is a storied venue, built by Donald Ross in 1926 during the so-called golden period of golf architecture, and tweaked since, most notably in 2019 when hundreds of trees were removed, the greens enlarged and reshaped, water hazards added and bunkers rebuilt.
A parkland course in suburban Rochester, it is described as “an American classic”.
Ross contracted John Williams, a celebrated doctor, author and arbourist to plant the oak trees at the course, and he would later say when he was asked how many he planted: “I stopped counting at 40,000.”
Many of those have been taken out to give the course a more open feel but at par-70 and 7399 yards, it will present a strong major championship test this week with the lurking danger of Allen’s Creek meandering through the course.
Oak Hill is no stranger to big-time golf; it previously hosted three US Opens and three PGA Championships totalling six majors, plus Ryder Cups and Senior majors. Jack Nicklaus won the 1980 PGA by seven shots at Oak Hill, and Shaun Micheel hit the shot of his life at the final hole to win in 2003.
Australia has pitched seven players into the field with most of them being in good form, especially Cameron Smith who was narrowly beaten in the LIV Tulsa event last week and Jason Day, who won his first PGA Tour event for five years.
Day has been improving consistently for the past six months and as a past winner of the PGA, may well start one of the favourites this week along with the likes of Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Scotty Scheffler, Dustin Johnson and Smith.
The Queenslander was planning a rest on Monday in New York as he prepares to back up from his emotional win in the Byron Nelson after a five-year winning drought.
“I’m going to give myself a day off just because of the high that I’m on right now,” he said on Sunday night. “I know over the next few days I’m going to hit a low pretty quick, just from past experience, going from such a high to a low can actually kill your adrenaline. You can come into Thursday kind of sluggish and not really prepared. I have to understand that moving forward. I think things are moving in the correct direction.
“I know that there’s a few things in the swing that I have to talk to Chris (coach Chris Como) about, so we can get it tighter, dispersion becomes tighter, over time the implementation of these small little things I’m thinking about yields multiple win seasons instead of just winning once.”
Day first went to Como a couple of years ago by coincidence; his friend Tiger Woods (also coached by Como) was suffering chipping yips at the time and asked Day over to his Florida home for some advice. When the trio spoke, Day struck up a rapport with Como, and the results are coming through right now.
“He was very quiet, he listened very intently,” said Day. “You could tell he knew a lot about the game, knew it on a deeper level.”
For Day, a former world No. 1, this week’s win was validation of his decision to stick with the game after two horrible years.
“There were definitely times when I thought ‘you know what, I’m done playing the game, just because of the stress it was putting on me, what it was doing to my health,” he said on Sunday.
“Mentally I was not there. I wasn’t confident in myself. I honestly felt like I didn’t have the game and maybe I was one of those guys who had a really good career and then injuries kind of hurt me and through the battling of injuries and trying to get back to the top, maybe I was one of those guys who was going to go out that way.”
The seven Australians in the field are Day, Adam Scott, Cameron Smith, Min Woo Lee, Lucas Herbert, Cam Davis and 26-year-old Victorian David Micheluzzi, who makes his first major championship start as a reward for having won the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit in 2022-23.
Television coverage starts late Thursday night eastern time on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports.
PHOTO: Jason Day is in some of his best form approaching the PGA. Photo: Getty
MEDIA TRANSCRIPTS, VIDEO, INFORMATION
https://www.pgamediacenter.com/
SCORING
https://www.pgachampionship.com/
WRITTEN COVERAGE
THE COURSE
Oak Hill Country Club (East course) is an old, established parkland course with plenty of water and lots of trouble at par-70. As the host of six previous majors, it will be up for the task.
PRIZE POOL
$US 15 million
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Scottie Scheffler: Always thereabouts and current world No. 1.
Dustin Johnson: Former world No. 1 and winner of the LIV event last weekend.
Jason Day: Another former world No. 1 with red hot form as a last-start winner
Cameron Smith: Runner-up on LIV last weekend and still one of the hottest in the world in the majors.
Jon Rahm: An incredibly consistent run over the past two years has him pushing Scheffler at the top.
Rory McIlroy: Amazing to think he has not won a major since 2014; perhaps this is the week.
THE AUSSIES
Cameron Smith
Jason Day
Adam Scott
Cam Davis
Lucas Herbert
Min Woo Lee
David Micheluzzi
TV TIMES
Fox Sports and Kayo Sports
Thursday (AEST) 11.30pm-Friday 2pm
Friday 11.30pm-Saturday 2pm
Saturday 11pm-Sunday 2pm
Sunday 11pm-Monday 1pm
Tim Walker has overcome a nervy start to complete a commanding wire-to-wire win at the $50,000 Victorian PGA Associate Championship at Tocumwal Golf and Bowls Club.
Six strokes clear at the start of Friday’s final round, Walker gave the chasing pack some encouragement with three early bogeys on Tocumwal’s Captains Course.
He’d made just one bogey in the 54 holes prior but bounced back quickly from his early miss-steps.
Birdies at 11 and 12 re-established his dominant position at the top of the leaderboard, sealing a seven-stroke win with a birdie from 30 feet to close out a two-under par round of 70 and 14-under total.
Although without a prior State Associate title, Walker’s form at Tocumwal had him pegged as a tournament favourite when play began on Tuesday.
The third year Associate at Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club had never shot over par in the previous three years of this tournament and commended the greens staff for the presentation of the course for the 2023 championship, declaring it the best he had ever seen it.
Walker also thanked his golf club and PGA Professionals Ben Davey and Stuart Byrnes for their support.
Rosanna Golf Club’s Joel Matthews delivered the best score of the final round, his five-under 67 elevating him all the way up to outright second at seven-under par.
The PGA were proud to announce earlier this week that the tournament will return to Tocumwal Golf and Bowls Club in the Berrigan Shire until 2027 after committing to a five-year extension.
Raffle winners
1st Alyson McCulloch
TITLEIST GOLF CLUBS & HARDWARE TO THE VALUE OF $2,500
2nd Damien Magaton
“Stay and Play Package”
THREE (3) NIGHTS ACCOMODATION AT THE TOCUMWAL GOLF RESORT FOR FOUR (4) PEOPLE INCLUDING FOUR (4) ROUNDS OF GOLF AT THE TOCUMWAL GOLF & BOWLS CLUB (CONDITIONS APPLY) (VALUE – $1800)
3rd Anne Craig
CALLAWAY GOLF EPIC STAFF BAG (VALUE $750)
4th David McDonald
TITLEIST PLAYERS STAND 15 BAG (VALUE $349)
5th Trever Peck
SIGNED AND FRAMED GEOFF OGILVY AND RYAN FOX ISPS HANDA TOURNAMENT FLAG (VALUE $250)
6th Rosie Phillip
A 2-HOUR TITLEIST CLUB-FITTING SESSION (VALUE $200)
Five inspirational PGA Associates have been named as the PGA Women in Golf scholarship recipients for 2023.
Christine Shin (Terrey Hills Golf and Country Club), Jan Maggio (Killara Golf Club), Stacey Edwards (The Golf School, Queensland), Aleisha Weidmann (Gosnells Golf Club) and Casey Thompson (Cowra Golf Club) will each receive financial support as they work through the PGA’s Membership Pathway Program.
Launched in 2021, the Women in Golf Scholarship Fund is designed to increase the number of female Vocational Members within the PGA of Australia.
Geoff Stewart, General Manager of Membership and Education for the PGA, says the five recipients will all make for valued additions to the PGA ranks at the completion of the Membership Pathway Program.
“Women play such a pivotal role within the PGA of Australia but we identified that we needed a greater representation among our Vocational members,” Stewart said.
“We were thrilled with the quality of applications that we received for the 2023 scholarships and believe that the five we have chosen are well on their way to becoming highly-valued Members of the PGA of Australia.
“Each have a unique story and background and it is our hope, with the support of the scholarship, that each will go on to complete the Membership Pathway Program in the next couple of years and enjoy long careers as PGA Professionals.”
This is the second year in which Aleisha Weidmann (pictured) has received the Women in Golf Scholarship.
A third-year Associate at Gosnells Golf Club south of Perth, Weidmann is undertaking the Membership Pathway Program in a part-time capacity, juggling her commitments as a single mother to a two-year-old daughter.
Like Weidmann, Jan Maggio is in the third year of the MPP at Killara Golf Club on Sydney’s north shore.
Harbouring a dream to become a PGA Professional from the age of 16, Maggio’s pathway has taken longer than she had hoped but she is now a mother to an 18-month-old with a passion to encourage more children and women to play golf.
Based at a regional club, Casey Thompson can only access limited hours of employment at Cowra Golf Club in the NSW Central West.
In the second year of the MPP, Thompson is currently working two jobs in order to sustain her position in the program while also volunteering her time with the Western Region Academy of Sport.
Hyojeong (Christine) Shin and Stacey Edwards are Year 1 Associates with equally inspiring stories.
Shin has had a major hearing impairment from a young age but used golf to help with her self-confidence. She now hopes to become a great role model and advocate for other women with disabilities.
Edwards is a mature-aged Associate who made the decision to leave her alternative career and peruse her passion to become a PGA Member this year.
The PGA Women in Golf Scholarship Fund is proudly supported by PGA of Australia partners ISPS Handa, Acushnet, TaylorMade and Callaway.
For more information on the Women in Golf Scholarship Fund click here.
A hot putter and the guiding hand of son Bailey has earned Jason Norris a four-stroke win at The Lutheran Homes Baroosa Legends Tour Pro-Am at Tanunda Pines Golf Course.
The South Australian native delivered a course record of eight-under 64 in the second round for a 13-under total, four strokes clear of reigning SParms PGA Legends Tour Order of Merit winner Andre Stolz.
The picturesque bushland layout in the Barossa Valley an hour outside of Adelaide offered up ideal conditions for both days, the abundance of quality wines in the area only adding to the enjoyment for the 60 Senior Professionals taking part.
A winner at Murray Bridge earlier in the week with a course record 62 in the second round, Norris again produced his best golf on day two, making four birdies on the trot on the front nine in a bogey-free round of eight-under par.
Adding to the thrill of victory was having 12-year-old son and ‘super caddie’ Bailey on the bag.
Tanunda Pines also played host this week to the SA Senior Foursomes Championship where Roland Baglin and Robert Mitchell came out on top.
In a solid field that included Terry Price playing with Peter O’Malley and Victorian Foursomes champions Brad Burns and Chris Taylor, the team of Baglin and Mitchell combined for a round of four-under 68 in the alternate shot format.
That was enough to edge out O’Malley and Price by one stroke.
In a round that consisted of five birdies and one bogey, Mitchell and Baglin combined perfectly, driving the ball well which was the key to their round.
Price and O’Malley got off to a hot start to be four-under through the front nine which included an eagle at the par-5 sixth hole.
Unfortunately for two of the legends of Australian golf, bogeys on the first two par 3s on the back nine halted their charge.
The South Australian swing of the SParms PGA Legends Tour now moves on to Thaxted Park for the Glenn Joyner Legends Invitational on Saturday, the star-studded field boasting Champions Tour regular David McKenzie.
