Burns goes wire-to-wire to claim Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open

Brad Burns has pulled off a stunning wire-to-wire win in the Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open at Thurgoona Golf and Country Club.

But he did it the hard way.

Starting with a seven-shot lead, Burns gave the field a hint of a chance with right from the outset with bogies on the opening two holes to drop back to 11-under.

It was a stumble and in stark contrast to his dominant performance over the opening two rounds.

His playing partner, Lucien Tinkler was the first to make a move, getting to within a couple of shots midway through the round. Sadly for the Victorian, a missed chance on the par-5 11th followed by a bogey on the par-3 12th saw him fall away.

Peter Fowler, playing in the group in front was also having a day of it. The Sydneysider put together an excellent round of 67 to finish within a stroke but will be left thinking what could have been when he missed the green on the par-3 16th. The resulting bogey saw him drop a shot at the worst possible time.

No one would have expected the tournament could come down to the final hole, and when Burns dunked his approach on the 17th into the front trap, it seemed even a playoff might have been on the cards.

Thankfully, Burns pulled off the remarkable and slotted a 14-footer for the save, giving him a one-shot buffer down the last.

It was all he needed, and a safe approach to the middle of the 18th followed by a lagged putt to about eight inches was all the Queenslander needed.

Burns was a relieved man post-round.

“A lot of relief actually,” he smiled. “I got off to a bad start with a couple of three-putts early, and I had to grind it out all day basically.”

“I holed a good putt on 17. I thought I hit the fairway, but it ended up behind a tree.”

Burns agreed the comfort of a seven-shot buffer at the beginning of the day might have got inside his head, leading to some overly conservative play.

“I’ve been in this position before, but it is so hard, leading by so much heading into the final day and you’ve got guys like Peter Fowler, O’Malley and Pete Senior behind.

“But look, I’m happy I’m over the moon,” he smiled.

*Victorian Greg Wilson claimed the amateur medal, with a three round total of 220.

Finals Scores:
-10: Brad Burns
-9: Peter Fowler
-6 Lucien Tinkler
-4 Peter O’Malley, Peter Lonard
-3: John Wade
-1: Peter Senior

Michael Long is back at Thurgoona Country Club and has eyes for only one thing – successfully defending his Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open crown.

The 51-year-old made his debut on the Ladbrokes Legends Tour at this event last year, and it quickly became an unforgettable debut for the Tour rookie.

As a golfer defending a title isn’t something that comes along in a career all that often, unless of course, your name is Woods, so for Long it is something he has been looking forward to for a while.

“I enjoy defending,” Long said. “It’s a wonderful thing to do, but also a hard thing to do.”

“My record hasn’t been great at doing it, but I’ve had the odd one here and there.

“A lot of time you turn up and you remember a lot of the good things you did the year before and you expect it to happen straight away.

“Perhaps you don’t quite knuckle down and get the moment going you need.”

Regardless of the added expectations, Long has some fond memories from last year, in particular, his final round chase of Peter Senior who looked like he had a mortgage on the tournament after his opening round 61.

“I had a stretch in the middle of the final round that I played 6 or 7-under, which helped me to bridge that gap,” he smiled.

Long said his first year out on the senior circuit had been an enjoyable experience, two wins to begin his ‘fat belly’ career was consolidated with a win in New Caledonia a couple of months ago.

“I’ve enjoyed it.

“We are lucky in our sport we can do it. We are all competitors and we love the competition. I think it is fantastic and I couldn’t be happier.”

“I know there would be a lot of competitors in other sports looking at us going, ‘Wow, I wish I could do that!’ Just relive it all”.

As for his form and his chance this week, Long was his usual quietly guarded self.

“It’s been a mixed bag over the last month,” he smiled. “The course looks good, the greens are great, let’s just see.”

The opening round of the Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open begins on Friday at Thurgoona Country Club Resort in New South Wales. Scores for the Ladbrokes Legends Tour event will be available at pga.org.au.

Michael Long produced the round of the day, 5-under par 67, to take out the 2018 Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open at Thurgoona Golf and Country Club.

It was a stunning display from the Perth-based Kiwi, to catch, then overtake Peter Senior, who was looking to many like he would cruise to an easy win after starting the day with a four-shot lead.

Long had other thoughts, however, and after a slow start, he finally began to claw back the deficit with a birdie on the ninth to cut the lead to just three with nine holes to go.

A birdie on the 10th saw him grab another, and when Senior bogeyed the 11th for the second straight day, the lead was back to one.

Long had the large gallery eating out of his hand when he holed a bump-and-run from pin-high left of the green, and when Senior could only make par, they were back to all square.

Long hit the lead for the first time on the 13th when he converted his approach from about 10 feet. The 50-year-old put then put another hand on the trophy on the next when he hit probably the shot of the day, an exquisite five iron from 180 metres to two feet for an easy eagle three.

A bogey on 15 didn’t phase the reigning Western Australian PGA Champion, and when Senior couldn’t get up and down from the back of the 17th, Long had the comfort a two-shot buffer playing the last.

An uncharacteristic bogey was all Long needed in the end to secure the championship by a shot.

“To come over here, and to do something like this is pretty cool. I’m rapt," said Long.

“One-from-one is going to be a pretty hard record to keep up, isn’t it? I feel pretty cool.

“A win makes a year, they don’t come around that often, so I’m quite happy.”

There will only be a little bit of time for celebrations for the champion, however, Long is penciled in for next week’s Australian PGA Seniors Championship at Richmond Golf Club, then it’s off to the United States for the 2019 PGA Champions Tour School in Primm Valley in California.

“I played and won twice on the Web, but never really got going on the main tour.

"That’s why I’m keen to get back over there and have a crack on the Champions Tour,” Long smiled.

Conditions were perfect all day, but it is still the superb 61 shot by Peter Senior which leads the way after round one of the Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open.

Senior carved his way around Thurgoona on the way to the lowest score ever posted on the par 72 layout. Disappointingly for the Queenslander, with the tees moved forward on a couple of holes, it can’t be counted as a course record.

Still, Senior would be happy to console himself with a bottle or two of some of St Hallett’s finest reds – if he was to drink, which he doesn’t. So it is fair to say there’ll be a family member or two happy with the prize with Christmas fast approaching.

With the afternoon players facing a bit of breeze and firming greens, it was Mike Harwood who fared best, signing for a five under par 67, and outright second spot.

“It was nearly good except for the last. A bit of indecision with my second shot and I made a bogey which was a bit disappointing, but I played nicely,” Harwood said.

“The course is good, and the greens are amazing, so you can shoot low.

Asked about his thoughts on how the course easy it was to score, Harwood said the conditions were ideal. When quizzed about Peter Senior’s 61 in the morning, Harwood seemed a little surprised, but added he was merely happy to concentrate on his efforts and wasn’t too concerned about the results of others.
“(11 under) is ridiculous, it’s not that easy.

“I’m just trying to play well myself. I’ve had a tough year playing-wise this is the best score I’ve shot all year.

“I think I’ve turned the corner and I need to confirm that in the next few days, and not thinking about,” Harwood added.

Marquee attraction Peter Lonard proved a popular choice for the spectators to follow as the afternoon wore on. Despite an errant driver, he managed to post a respectable two under par 70, to stay in touch with Senior and Harwood.

“I put the mocker on myself when I said the fairways were pretty wide, I didn’t hit one,” he grinned. “The greens are pure, and If you hit it in the fairways you can score, but I didn’t.”

Lonard added Seniors effort was impressive. It wasn’t a score he said he could see in the course before teeing off.
“I didn’t see 11 under coming today, but Pete Senior is no chook is he?

“11 under is a good score anywhere.

“I suppose he has had a day; don’t worry he might do it again, it might be three in a row,

“With score like that he might want to go back onto the main tour, forget about the Senior tour,” Lonard smiled.

There’s plenty of familiar faces but it’s an unfamiliar feeling for Western Australian based Kiwi Michael Long at this week’s Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open at Thurgoona Country Club.

Long, who became eligible for the over 50’s in late August, is making his Ladbrokes Legends Tour debut, and arrived at the first tee today to a bit of gentle ribbing from a one or two of the assembled players.

“Welcome to the fat bellies,” grinned tour veteran Peter O’Malley while giving Long a bit of a nudge.

With the Western Australian Open being played almost in Long’s backyard this week at Mt Lawley, the decision to bypass a rare home ground tournament for one on the other side of the country may appear to some folk as strange, but to Long it made perfect sense.

“It seems a bit crazy to fly from one side of the country to the other with a tournament on my doorstep, but it sort of works out.

“I’m just trying to get myself ready for the US Senior Champions tour school in a few weeks.

“I’ve got to go to both stages so it’s going to be a long couple of months.

“The deciding factor was the Australian Senior PGA Next week. It’s two events in a row I can play,” he said.

When asked about the feeling of being the Rookie on tour again Long grinned,

“The faces are familiar, but the feeling is a bit different.

"It’s good to be out here with these guys."

Long is having his first look at the Thurgoona layout, and is impressed with what he saw. Wide fairways and expansive greens that will get faster as the week goes on impressed the 2018 TX Civil and Logistics WA PGA Champion.

“I can see there’s is a lot of up and down around here, a lot of elevation changes. The fairways are wide and the greens look good,” he added.

Peter Lonard is set to be the headline act at the Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open after confirming his entry overnight.

Lonard, 51, will be making his debut in the Championship to be held at Thurgoona Country Club, Albury from October 26th to 28th.

The New South Welshman boasts a playing record of 12 tournament wins including the NSW Open ( 2004), two Australian Masters titles (1997, 2002), three Australian PGA Championships ( 2002, 2004, & 2007), and back-to-back Australian Opens (2003 & 2004).

A two-time President’s Cup player, in 2003 and 2005, Lonard snared the biggest win of his career taking out the PGA Tour’s MCI Heritage Classic at Harbour Town Golf Links in 2005.

Graeme Phillipson, General Manager of Golf at Golf NSW was thrilled to announce Lonard’s inclusion in the tournament. He said the multi-tournament winner was a welcome addition to the Championship.

“Peter is a household name and a massive coup for the tournament. He is a legend of Australian Golf and was arguably one of Australia’s most outstanding players for over a generation.

Also debuting at the 2018 Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open will be two-time Australian Open Champion, Peter Fowler, and West Australian-based Kiwi Michael Long.

Fowler has been impressive on the European Senior ‘Stayesure’ Tour this year and currently sits in 5th place on the money list. A six-time winner in the senior ranks, the highlight of 2018 for the evergreen 59-year-old was a victory in the Willow Senior Golf Classic in August.

The Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open will also mark the debut on the Ladbrokes Legends Tour for Michael Long, who turned 50 at the end of August. The Kiwi, who has represented New Zealand multiple times, is a two-time winner on the Web.com tour and competed on the US PGA Tour from 2002 until 2005. In a sign of how competitive he remains, Long’s last win on the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia came at the 2016 Victorian Open against a field of much younger players.

Mr Phillpson added the presence of players of the calibre of Long and Fowler would mean whoever is crowned the champion for 2018 will be a very worthy winner.

“We saw a dramatic finish to the Championship last year when Sydney’s Grant Kenny was chased all the way by Peter Senior. With this year’s tournament full of many of the great names of Australian golf, the people of the Murray region are in for another fantastic week,” Mr Phillipson said.

The $100,000 Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open will be played over three rounds at Thurgoona Golf and Country Club, Albury from October 26th to 28th. Entry is free.

The NSW Senior Open has received a significant boost with real estate fund manager, Lincoln Place becoming the naming rights sponsor of the Ladbrokes Legends Tour event for 2018 and 2019.

The tournament, to be known as the Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open, will be played at Thurgoona Country Club, Albury, from 26-28 October 2018.

Lincoln Place specialise in the creation, development, management, and operation of active retirement living villages, focussing on creating active communities and improving the environment.

Stuart Fraser, CEO of Golf NSW was thrilled to welcome Lincoln Place on board as the naming rights partner for the NSW Senior Open.

“Having Lincoln Place become the naming rights sponsor of the NSW Senior Open is a wonderful opportunity for us to ensure the tournament grows into one of the most important fixtures on the Australian senior golf calendar," said Fraser.

“The sponsorship is also the perfect opportunity for Lincoln Place to show to the wider golfing community how they can help many of our clubs.”

Lincoln Place has been involved with golf in New South Wales since its inception.

Steve Bowmaker, Business Development Manager for Lincoln Place, said the organisation is a keen supporter of the sport, and the NSW Senior Open is an event they are proud to be associated with.

“We are delighted to be the naming rights sponsor of the Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open," said Bowmaker.

“This sponsorship supports our core business which is creating active retirement communities in conjunction with existing golf and country clubs.

“The Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open is not only an opportunity to watch some of the greats of Australian golf but to showcase what we are about to people who want to be involved in active and engaged local communites.”

The $100,000 Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open will take place at Thurgoona Country Club Resort, Albury, from October 26 – 28, 2018 with entry free for the public.

Headlines at a glance

Brad Burns has pulled off a stunning wire-to-wire win in the Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open at Thurgoona Golf and Country Club.