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Two veterans who play precious little in Australia shrugged off a mid-round rain delay to make their move in round two of The Players Series Victoria Hosted by Geoff Ogilvy at Rosebud Country Club.
Where wind was nature’s primary line of defence on day one, players in the morning wave on Friday were forced to contend with persistent rain, rain that when it got heavier forced a suspension of play for an hour and a half.
Domiciled on the Asian Tour for the majority of his career, David Gleeson’s 4-under 67 was the best score of the morning and moved him into a tie for sixth, a birdie either side of the break allowing him to maintain his forward momentum.
“I made a birdie on my eighth hole from the trees. That got me going because it’s a pretty strong hole,” said Gleeson, who started well on Thursday before playing his back nine in 3-over.
“I blasted a 6-iron out of the trees to about a foot and then we got called off so I finished with a bit of momentum before the rain delay.
“There are some easy par 5s out here if you hit a good tee shot and I think that’s what the guys were doing yesterday.”
Shortly after the resumption Gleeson birdied the par-4 10th and then picked up further shots at the 15th and 16th holes to secure a spot inside the top 10 as the afternoon groups took to the course.
Champions Tour player David McKenzie went into the rain delay on the back of a bogey at the par-5 15th and when he returned three-putted the par-5 16th after reaching the green in two.
His score took a further hit with a dropped shot at the 17th but a birdie at the first hole to start his back nine instigated a run of three birdies in four holes on his way to a second consecutive 2-under 69 to also be tied for sixth.
“I was actually playing pretty well. Hit a lot of good shots but didn’t do anything fantastically well,” said McKenzie.
“Then the rain did come and I came off the course after making a bogey. But then I hit it onto the 16th in two and three-putted for par and then made bogey on 17.
“I was going back out feeling like I was playing OK but my scores were still just so-so. Then I got on a nice little stretch there through the first to the fourth.
“If you stay patient and you’re hitting putts that look like they have a chance eventually you’re going to make a few. That was how I was looking at it.”
Recalling his days playing the Victorian Trainee Championship at Rosebud in the late 1990s, McKenzie praised the way the course handled the rain and revelled in the style of golf course that allows him to compete with the young up-and-comers.
“Obviously everything has changed since it was back then but I always like playing this style of golf course,” said McKenzie, who intends to return to the US and the Champions Tour in April.
“It’s not a Sandbelt course but it’s a Sandbelt-looking golf course and plays that sort of way. I’m lucky for this one because it’s short-ish, a little bit shorter than I’m used to playing in America that’s for sure.
“The course has held up really well. If it hadn’t rained as heavily we could have kept on going but it just got to that point where the rain was just too heavy for the water to get away.
“There were one or two holes where they had some bad luck with otherwise we would have still been out there.”
While Gleeson and McKenzie were the two to make the greatest impression on the leaderboard in the morning the early afternoon scores were having a dramatic effect at the top.
Overnight leader Nathan Barbieri dropped four shots in his opening four holes to be fourth at 6-under, Matthew Griffin and Matias Sanchez joining Geoff Ogilvy at 7-under early in their second rounds.
LPGA Tour player Su Oh has made a promising start to her second round (4-under through seven) as has rookie professional Stephanie Bunque (2-under through six) to be leading the way among the women in the field.
Adam Scott will commence 2021 desperate to make up for lost time after a schedule decimated by the coronavirus pandemic and his own two-week COVID-19 quarantine turned last year from one of great promise to one of lost opportunities.
Scott returns to the Plantation Course at the Kapalua Resort on the island of Maui in Hawaii for the first time since 2014, his victory at the Genesis Invitational last February securing his spot alongside fellow Aussies Cameron Smith (Sony Open) and Marc Leishman (Farmers Insurance Open).
The two-shot win at Riviera Country Club almost a year ago was Scott’s first PGA TOUR start for 2020 and signalled a strong intent to contend for a second green jacket at The Masters.
The suspension of the season due to COVID-19, an extended stint at home in Australia, the reshuffled schedule of Majors and FedEx Cup playoff events and his own run-in with COVID-19 threw Scott off kilter, failing to finish inside the top 20 in any of the eight events he played following the resumption.
If turning 40 last July wasn’t enough of a reminder that time is of the essence, Scott enters 2021 determined to maximise the time he has to work on his game in the current climate and adapt better to the situation every player currently finds themselves in.
“I have to figure out a way to get it done,” said Scott, a runner up in this event in 2007 behind Vijay Singh.
“Even under these difficult circumstances, if I’m going to come out and play I want to come out and contend and not just make up numbers. Otherwise, I would rather not play.
“If I’m out here playing, I want to make the most of it. Who knows, my time is becoming less and less, that’s for sure, so I would like to contend a little more and win a little more before my time’s up.
“You kind of have to have a plan, but not everything is up to me, determined by me. Things are changing. Even just getting here, the parameters changed like three times in the weeks leading up to coming to Hawaii.
“So I have to be a bit flexible, but I think you’ve just really got to be on top of things at all times so nothing falls off the pace in any area of your game or in what you need to do to be at the top because there might not be that opportunity to work to get it back.
“I’m trying to just stay on top of everything and also be a little flexible with my attitude, not get annoyed when things are a bit more difficult and just take it for what it is. Getting time to see my coach outside of a TOUR event, and training and treatment and things like that.
“If you’re not based in the same place at the moment, it’s very, very difficult to actually get together. The UK’s just locked down again. My coach lives there. I know other guys have that too, but it is challenging. So just trying to manage things a little bit better.
“I played OK at the end of last year, but not up to the standard I want to play if I’m out here doing it.
“Trying to do a little bit better job of that from this point on.”
Unlikely to return to Australia until the end of the year, Scott is eyeing off both The Players Championship and The Masters as early targets to add to a world-class resume that boasts 31 tournament wins including the 2013 Masters, 2003 Players and two World Golf Championship titles.
The highest-ranked Australian currently at No.21 in the world, Scott didn’t rule out making space in his schedule for a tilt at a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, providing they can go ahead as planned a week after his 41st birthday on July 23.
“I would consider playing,” admitted Scott, who declined the opportunity to play in Rio de Janiero in 2016.
“It’s still not my priority for the year, that’s for sure, but I wouldn’t rule it out.
“You can never really say never, but it will certainly be something I’ll look at.
“Who knows where we are in the summertime.”
As for his return to Hawaii that comes with an added bonus of time to indulge his passion for surfing, Scott conceded that there are few better ways to start the year.
“It has been an event I’ve loved coming to for so many years. But then for a while it was a tricky one to get back to,” said Scott.
“Every time I missed it I regretted it but it was off the back of playing in Australia and being the first week of the year made it a very short holiday season for me.
“Once I won in Genesis it was definitely a priority for me to put this event on the schedule.
“It’s a great way to start the year. Even under these circumstances it’s nice to be here. And for me, at this moment, I need to kind of start putting some good results on the board and get my FedEx Cup campaign going a bit.”
Round 1 tee times (AEDT)
PGA TOUR
Sentry Tournament of Champions
Kapalua Resort (Plantation Course), Maui, Hawaii
7am Adam Scott, Jason Kokrak
7.20am Marc Leishman, Billy Horschel
7.50am Cameron Smith, Kevin Kisner
Defending champion: Justin Thomas
Past Aussie champions: Steve Elkington (1992, 1995), Stuart Appleby (2004, 2005, 2006), Geoff Ogilvy (2009, 2010)
Top Aussie prediction: Marc Leishman
TV times: Live 10am-2pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday; Live 8am-12pm Monday on Fox Sports 503.
Former Australian Masters champion Craig Spence and Geoff Ogilvy’s long-time coach Dale Lynch are among the 34 Victorian PGA Professionals in the running for the 2020 Victorian PGA State Vocational Awards to be announced later this week.
In a year in which the Victorian golf industry has been more severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic than any other state, the 2020 awards will recognise those who have fought through the challenges to provide exceptional service to their facility and their members.
“No one could have imagined at the start of the year the challenges that our Victorian PGA Members would be faced with,” says State Senior Manager, David Barker.
“We had the initial lockdown, a surge in golf activity and then the extended lockdown that for the most part kept our Members from working.
“When restrictions eased golf facilities had to be ready to manage the flood of golfers coming through their doors and allow their members to enjoy their golf in the safest possible manner.
“We’re so proud of the way our Members have dealt with such difficult circumstances and this list of nominees is testament to the skills and passion that all of our Victorian PGA Professionals bring to work every single day.”
The 1999 Masters champion at Huntingdale, Spence has been nominated as Coach of the Year for his work at the Albert Park Driving Range, his own former coach Dale Lynch also nominated in that category.
One-time Open Championship participant Tim Wood (Rosanna Golf Club) is also among the Coach of the Year nominees along with David Capaldo (Peninsula Kingswood), Andrew Cooper (Victoria), Dean Kinney (Victorian Institute of Sport) and Stuart Leong (Metropolitan).
Nominated for the Management Professional of the Year, Brad Alton instituted innovative work practices to not only keep his staff employed but provide valued services to members at Eynesbury Golf and Homestead and James Woite is in the running for the positive impact he has made to the bottom line at Gardiners Run, where he has overseen a 34 per cent increase in membership numbers, 15.6 per cent increase in green fee revenue and 14.7 per cent increase in social group revenue.
The Game Development Professional of the Year nominees are overflowing with innovation, including Sandy Jamieson’s 1Club Golf concept at Oakleigh Golf Course.
Determined to show newcomers that golf could be fun, easy and affordable, Jamieson designed the 1Club himself and the result was a 50 per cent increase in both rounds and revenue in the six months leading up to the COVID-19 outbreak.
There is a stellar field of nominees for the Club Professional of the Year honour including Richard Hatt at Royal Melbourne, Barwon Heads pair Ian Donnelly and Ashley Andrews and Box Hill’s Heath Streat who has built up a membership that is now bursting at the seams.
PGA Management Professional of the Year
Brad Alton (Eynesbury Golf & Homestead)
Heath Jones (Warragul Golf Club)
Michelle Scerri (Burnley Golf Course)
Brett Scothern (Medway Golf Club)
Haydn Thompson (Deep Creek Golf Club at Pakenham)
Andrew Weir (Ranfurlie Golf Club)
James Woite (Gardiners Run Golf Club)
David Wren (Rosanna Golf Club)
Game Development Professional of the Year
Andrew Cartledge (Ballarat Golf Club)
Travis Harrison (Spring Valley Golf Club)
James Hartley (Yarra Bend Golf Complex)
Jody Hawkins (Kooringal Golf Club)
Sandy Jamieson (Oakleigh Golf Course)
Jamie McCallum (Albert Park Driving Range)
Brandon Rave (Bulleen Golf Driving Range)
Angela Tatt (Ballarat Golf Club)
Coach of the Year
David Capaldo (Peninsula Kingswood Golf Club)
Andrew Cooper (Victoria Golf Club)
Dean Kinney (Victorian Institute of Sport)
Stuart Leong (Metropolitan Golf Club)
Dale Lynch (Yarra Bend Golf Complex)
Craig Spence (Albert Park Driving Range)
Tim Wood (Rosanna Golf Club)
Club Professional of the Year
Simon Angliss (Kew Golf Club)
Ashley Andrews (Barwon Heads Golf Club)
Luke Bleumink (Rosanna Golf Club)
Justin Burrage (Kingston Heath Golf Club)
Ian Donnelly (Barwon Heads Golf Club)
Craig Funch (The National Golf Club)
Richard Hatt (Royal Melbourne Golf Club)
Scott McDermott (Settlers Run Golf Club)
Alan Patterson (Patterson River Golf Club)
Heath Streat (Box Hill Golf Club)
Mark Williamson (Sorrento Golf Club)
Seventeen New South Wales PGA Professionals have been recognised for their outstanding contributions to the game over the past 12 months with nominations for the annual NSW/ACT PGA Awards.
The COVID-19 pandemic means that a presentation function is not possible in 2020 with the four award winners to be revealed on Friday. The Victorian nominees and winners will be released next week.
In a year that has presented challenges that no one could have foreseen, the way the NSW and ACT PGA Professionals have coped with the difficulties imposed by the pandemic and then adapted to make play available to members and guests is testament to their unique skill set.
The four awards that will be announced on Friday are Club Professional of the Year, Coach of the Year, Game Development Professional of the Year and Management Professional of the Year and Senior State Manager David Barker praised not just the nominees but all of the NSW/ACT PGA Professionals who have operated under trying conditions this year.
“From lockdowns to an explosion in demand that we haven’t seen in many years, there’s no question that 2020 has thrown absolutely everything at our PGA Professionals,” Barker said.
“Every Professional has had to adapt the way they operate and introduce new work practices to be compliant with Government regulations, all while having hordes of eager golfers coming through the pro shop doors.
“These awards celebrate our very highest achievers but in many ways all the PGA Professionals who have kept the game going in 2020 deserve recognition for their tireless efforts this year.”
In addition to some of the elite metropolitan golf clubs such as The Australian and The Lakes, PGA Professionals in regional locations have been identified for their willingness to go above and beyond in 2020.
General Manager Chris Longbottom has been nominated for the Management Professional of the Year for the change he has instituted at Harden Country Club 90 minutes west of Goulburn.
In need of a governance overhaul, Harden Country Club has gone from strength to strength since Longbottom’s arrival but it was the way he guided the club through the challenging COVID-19 waters that underlined his professionalism.
Port Macquarie Golf Club Head Professional James Single is a nominee for Club Professional of the Year, the second time he has been nominated since 2016, while Mark Lazenby is the sole nominee representing the ACT, also in contention for the Club Professional of the Year award for his work at Federal Golf Club.
The only female Professional nominated for an award is Joanne Bannerman, Head Professional at Cumberland Country Club in Sydney’s western suburbs. The Banners Golf Tech Centre utilises all the modern technology available to coaches and her Junior Academy is home to some 40 participants between the ages of 5-15, a weekly fitness class just part of the development opportunities she provides.
The Coach of the Year award is one that is always hotly contested and this year sees Gary Barter (The Australian Golf Club), Charles Kares (The Lakes Golf Club), Ben Paterson (Avondale Golf Club) and Jason Wood (Thornleigh Golf Centre) recognised for their efforts in developing elite players.
Barter has seen strong performances from the likes of Australian Open champion Matt Jones and Ladies European Tour Rookie of the Year Stephanie Kyriacou and Jason Wood was nominated for the work he has done improving the games of countless amateurs and the expertise he brings to Thornleigh in terms of his technological education.
NSW/ACT PGA Awards
Club Professional of the Year
Joanne Bannerman (Cumberland Country Club)
Paul Davis (Beverley Park Golf Club)
Mark Lazenby (Federal Golf Club)
Daniel Paton (Monash Country Club)
James Single (Port Macquarie Golf Club)
Coach of the Year
Gary Barter (The Australian Golf Club)
Charles Kares (The Lakes Golf Club)
Ben Paterson (Avondale Golf Club)
Jason Wood (Thornleigh Golf Centre)
Game Development Professional of the Year
Mark Ingrey (Jack Newton Junior Golf)
Warren Moses (Nelson Bay Golf Club)
Josh Rindfleish (The Australian Golf Club)
Management Professional of the Year
Jason Atkins (Pymble Golf Club)
Nigel Gibson (Manly Golf Club)
Sam Howe (Oatlands Golf Club)
Christopher Longbottom (Harden Country Club)
Brett Parker (Bexley Golf Club)
Cameron Smith leads the All-Australian assault with a share of the lead, while Marc Leishman is well positioned to climb the leaderboard on moving day at Augusta National.
ROUND 3 TEE TIMES (all times in AEDT)
* denotes 10th tee
2:03am – Cameron Smith, Adam Scott*
5:46am – Marc Leishman
6:30am – Jason Day*
LEADERBOARD
Smith shares the lead with Abraham Ancer, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson.
T1 Smith -9
T22 Leishman -4
T34 Scott -2
T50 Day E
T83 Michel (A) +6 (MC)
Aaron Pike has won his second ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia title at the 2020 Tailor-Made Building Services NT PGA Championship.
A chip-in eagle on the second hole at Palmerston Golf and Country Club was the perfect start to Pike’s round, aided by a double-bogey posted by fellow overnight co-leader Nathan Barbieri on the opening hole.
Pike maintained a three-shot lead for much of the round but a firing Michael Sim stayed within reach of the hometown hero.
A blistering back-nine including back-to-back birdies on holes 15 and 16 put Sim within one shot of Pike, with a final birdie on the 18th taking the Queenslander to a share of the 12-under lead.
With Pike unable to add any further red numbers to his scorecard on the closing holes, Sim’s efforts were enough to take the pair to a playoff in order to determine a 2020 champion.
Pike was victorious on the first playoff hole to claim the NT PGA Championship in brilliant fashion at his former home course.
More to come.
View the final leaderboard at pga.org.au.
Amateur Hayden Hopewell has claimed his maiden ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia win at the 2020 Nexus Risk WA Open at Royal Fremantle Golf Club.
Hopewell began the third and final round two strokes behind overnight leader Brody Martin with plenty of talent lurking not far behind.
Able to stay within reach of the lead for much of the round, back-to-back birdies and holes 16 and 17 propelled the young-gun into the lead where he was able to stay thanks to a further birdie at the last.
Hopewell’s 4-under final round was the best of the tournament for the 18-year-old who has taken victory with a tournament total of 7-under 209.
Fellow amateur Haydn Barron has finished in second place at 6-under, ahead of Brody Martin in third at 5-under the card.
More to come.
View the full leaderboard at pga.org.au.
They say that the clothes make the man; for Kel Nagle and Adam Scott it was the jacket that made the moment.
Semi Final 1 | Match 61 | Australia's Greatest Golfer ??
— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) August 31, 2020
They say that the clothes make the man; for Kel Nagle and Adam Scott it was the jacket that made the moment.
Read more ? https://t.co/UmluC08L68
Nagle was so modest that he had to borrow a jacket from close friend Peter Thomson in order to collect the Claret Jug as the 1960 Open champion; Scott left Augusta National Golf Club with a wardrobe item never before placed across Australian shoulders.
Nagle and Scott have been drawn in the first semi-final of our search for Australia’s Greatest Golfer, the winner to face off against the winner of the second semi-final between Greg Norman and Ian Baker-Finch.
On the surface Nagle and Scott have little in common.
Their lone major championship triumphs were separated by more than 50 years yet both possessed a sense of style straight from the pages of QC.
Like James Bond’s choice of headwear in Goldfinger, Nagle’s fedora became something of a signature on the golf course. “If you looked across the golf course and saw that hat, you knew it was Kel Nagle,” Bob Shearer told the Courier-Mail upon Nagle’s passing in 2015.
A man more comfortable in a cardigan than a jacket, Nagle arrived at the Centenary Open championship in 1960 with the game necessary to conquer the St Andrews links but ill-equipped for the presentation ceremony that followed.
“I couldn’t get across to my room (in a flat across the road from the 18th green) to get my jacket because of all the people so I collected the trophy in Peter’s jacket,” Nagle said in Bump and Run,
At the Feet of the Masters.
“I didn’t leave the cheque in it though. The 1120 pounds, or something, was in my pocket.”
The jacket that the winner of The Masters doesn’t come with a cheque in the breast pocket; its significance is priceless.
Since Jim Ferrier’s runner-up finish at the 1950 Masters the best Aussie exports had flirted with golf’s most famous piece of fabric without ever feeling its weight.
Tied for ninth in his maiden appearance down Magnolia Drive in 2002, Adam Scott wrestled with Augusta’s idiosyncrasies until he was runner-up in 2011. Two years and a tense playoff with Angel Cabrera later, Scott became the first Australian to be draped in the green jacket.
“It’s something that no one really gets to see, ever, outside the grounds of Augusta,” Scott told PGATOUR.com in 2016.
“You don’t really see the trophy presented ever on TV, either, so everyone associates the Masters with the Green Jacket, so it’s like the trophy.
“One of the buttons was ripped off by a friend of mine because he was just so excited; you’re hugging and he got a hold of it, he’s got his hands on the jacket and one of the buttons came off.”
Renowned for their kindness and generosity, Kel Nagle and Adam Scott have represented their country in a manner that has made them revered the world over.
And they have done it in style.
To cast your vote for who should advance to the final of Australia’s Greatest Golfer visit the PGA Tour of Australasia Facebook page.
Kel Nagle
Career wins: 78
Major wins: 1 (1960 Open Championship)
Australasian Tour wins: 61
Australian Open: Won (1959)
Australian PGA: Won (1949, 1954, 1958, 1959, 1965, 1968)
Round 1 def. Roger Mackay
Round 2 def. Craig Parry
Round 3 def. Minjee Lee
Quarter-Final def. Peter Thomson
Adam Scott
Career wins: 31
Major wins: 1 (2013 Masters)
PGA TOUR wins: 14
Australasian Tour wins: 6
Australian PGA: Won (2013, 2019)
Australian Open: Won (2009)
Round 1 def. Jarrod Lyle
Round 2 def. Norman von Nida
Round 3 def. Rod Pampling
Quarter-Final def. Karrie Webb
Little about Cameron Davis’ pre-round routine today seemed to offer the Australian much confidence.
Not that it mattered.
Despite some early nerves in his FedEx Cup Playoffs debut, the Sydneysider showcased supreme nerve in posting a seven-under 64 in the first round at TPC Boston. The 25-year-old will enter round two tied atop the leaderboard with Harris English, Kevin Streelman and Russell Henley, with seven others one shot behind.
“My swing was a little sloppy and I wasn’t hitting the ball very solid on the range,” Davis said. “And then to start on the back nine very strong and hit a lot of good quality shots, I feel really proud of the way I dug in and did a really good job of just planning my shots out and committing to some lines and getting a couple birdies early on in that stretch. Definitely eased the tension a little bit and let me keep going.”
Davis, who tied for 15th last week at the Wyndham Championship, could secure his position in next week’s BMW Championship with a strong result over the next three days. He arrived in Boston at 91st in the FedExCup standings and needing a tie for 20th or better to advance to Chicago.
So far, so good.
Click here to read the remainder of the article thanks to Australian Golf Digest.
When you’re on, you’re ON.@CamDavisGolf with his 8th birdie of the day to take the solo lead @TheNTGolf.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/H2z3FiBqXy
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 20, 2020
