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A double bogey at the last is rarely a winning formula yet David Van Raalte had built such a buffer to still take out the $25,000 B&C Plumbing Griffith Charity Pro-Am.
A two-stroke leader after the first round, Van Raalte’s second round featured two double bogeys yet he was still able to hold off the likes of Marcus Fraser and 2021 WA PGA champion Jay Mackenzie to win by four strokes at Griffith Golf Club.
Set up by a seven-under 64 in Round 1 where he played the front nine at Griffith Golf Club in just 28 strokes, the win is Van Raalte’s first on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series since 2015.
Now a regular on the SParms PGA Legends Tour, the 53-year-old refused to look at the leaderboard throughout the final round, walking off the 18th hole pleasantly surprised that he had done enough to win.
“It was a bit nervy, to be honest with you,” Van Raalte admitted of his overnight advantage.
“I thought I may have blown it on the last by making a double but in the end it was good enough to get the job done.
“Really happy to be in that situation and have a win again.”
Fraser (66-74) and Cooper Gentle (71-69) shared second spot at two-under par with Mackenzie (71-70), Dean Mulley (73-68) and Aaron Maxwell (69-72) tied for fourth at one-under.
Winner of Legends Tour Qualifying School in 2022, Van Raalte’s first round at Griffith was one to remember.
Starting from the fifth hole, he holed out for eagle from the fairway on his opening hole and then finished with three straight birdies.
At day’s end it showed a front nine of eight-under 28 with six birdies and an eagle.
“I started on five, which is a par 5, and I holed my third shot into the green to make eagle there,” Van Raalte explained.
“I hit it to about 10 feet at the next and missed it, I birdied seven, eight and nine so I turned five-under after those first five holes.
“After we played the back nine, I hit it to about 10 feet on the first. I thought I’d holed that one but missed it and I ended up making a few putts on the way back in, making birdie at two, three and four to finish.
“It would have been nice to shoot 27 but 28 is not too shabby.
“It’s about as good as I’ve done before.
“It was a pleasure to be able to do it.”
The adidas PGA Pro-Am Series remains in the Riverina where Jordan Mullaney and Cameron Kelly share the lead after Round 1 of the Leeton Golf Club SunRice Pro-Am.
