JASPER’S INVITE TO AUGUSTA NEWS • OPINION • HOLIDAYS • LIFESTYLE • GEAR • TRAVEL • INDUSTRY ISSUE 218 // DECEMBER 2023 WWW.INSIDEGOLF.COM.AU AUSTRALIA’S M O S T - R E A D GOLF MAGAZINE CLUB OF THE MONTH CAMMERAY GOLF CLUB PAMPLING FAMILY, WINNING AND CELEBRATING SUCCESS OPINION HANDS OFF OUR GOLF COURSES XMAS GIFT GUIDE TRAVEL THE NSW NORTH COAST WIN AN Ai -ONE ODYSSEY PUTTER ASIA PACIFIC WIN DELIVERS THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS GIFT ContaCt Us: 0413 736 245 www.cgegolf.com.au | play@cgegolf.com.au STOP DREAMING & START PLANNING! BOOK YOUR 2024 & 2025 GOLF TOUR NOW CGE GOLF WILL LOOK AFTER ALL OF YOUR REQUIREMENTS DESTINATIONS INCLUDE: Vietnam Thailand China Japan South Africa Ireland & Scotland USA ~ Pebble Beach & Scottsdale And many more... PACKAGES INCLUDE: Superior Accommodation Full buffet breakfast Transfers Advanced course & tee times arranged Escorted & independent tours Group & early bird discounts available *Ts & Cs apply.. contact us for full tour details
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December 2023 www.insidegolf.com.au THE FIRST TEE 5 Leave our golf courses alone! SO NSW Premier Chris Minns has seemingly bowed to pressure from Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore and the interest groups she supports in reviewing the use of the land occupied by the Moore Park Golf Club in Sydney. A flourishing facility, catering to all levels of golfers, those from close by, visitors from interstate and overseas, young and old, beginners and the advanced, Moore Park is a public golf course located within five kilometres of the city. It is the closest 18-hole course to the centre of Sydney. For those not up to speed, the proposal is to ‘repurpose’ nine holes at Moore Park to provide recreational space for the local apartment dwellers due to Sydney’s ever-increasing population density. I could, and will, get into the benefits the course and club provides, included in that an injection of funds into the coffers of the Centennial Park Trust, custodians of the lands on which it is situated. There will hardly be a financial benefit to the Trust, and therefore equating to taxpayers needing to fund the shortfall, when someone other than the golf club maintains the grounds currently occupied by the nine holes of the course which Minns, Moore and the government are planning to shut down and turn into public parklands. When quizzed on the potential of taking over half of an extremely busy golf facility, one providing a highly utilised public service to the local community, Minns stated he would leave other golf courses alone, with this decision in relation to a specific problem relating to the need for recreational greenspace in the immediate vicinity of Moore Park. Interestingly, the Moore Park course hosts more than 500,000 people each year, with 82 per cent of those living within 10kms, meaning many locals are already making good and regular use of the land he is looking to repurpose. Then not so long after hearing the news of Moore Park, I drive three-hours north to Forster, for a couple of days of golf, rest and recreation. Played the Tuncurry course, an exceptional regional layout, presented in outstanding condition, enjoyed a beverage in the $3million government-funded clubhouse, which is just two years old and is one of only two in NSW to feature a purpose-built golfing museum, then comes word that the course being on Crown Land, Landcom, another government entity, were accelerating plans to force the revamp of 11 holes. What they might spin to describe as an upgrade, with holes closest to the ocean making way for a proposed 2,000 residences, the restructure also included moving the PUBLISHER: Sam Arthur | sam@insidegolf.com.au Outdoor Sports Publishing Pty Ltd ACN 113 836 301 ABN 30 043 104 919 PO BOX 437, Miami, QLD 4220 EDITORIAL: Editor: Rob Willis rob@insidegolf.com.au Editor at Large: David Newbery david@insidegolf.com.au NSW/ACT Journalist: Michael Court michael@insidegolf.com.au VIC/TAS Journalist: Michael Davis michael.davis@insidegolf.com.au QLD Journalist: Peter Owen peter.owen@outlook.com.au Design & Layout: Stacey Broomhead, Rob Kirk CONTRIBUTORS: Larry Canning, David Newbery,Tony Webeck, John Riley, Karen Lunn, Michael Cooney, Andrew Crockett Distributed to over 400 golf clubs, social golf clubs, driving ranges and retailers Australia wide every month It’s official: 37,775 Inside Golf Magazines distributed each month for the period: April 2023 to September 2023 AUSTRALIA’S MOST-READ GOLF MAGAZINE www.insidegolf.com.au Cover photo: Jasper Stubbs, winner of the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship. Photo courtesy aacgolf. Get in touch If you have an opinion on this or any other topic in the magazine, send your letter to the editor to rob@insidegolf.com.au and you’ll be in the running to win a gripping prize. Inside Golf publishes opinion from a wide range of perspectives in the hope of promoting constructive debate about consequential questions. recently built clubhouse and (maybe, maybe not), the only golf heritage display housed at a regional venue. So much for the State government not impacting any other golf courses. No doubt there are many more under threat, not just in NSW but further afield. Just last month Inside Golf detailed the challenges facing the Oakliegh public course in Melbourne. On the surface, the two highlighted may sound like isolated instances. In relation to Moore Park, Sydney is growing, more people, less greenspace, blah, blah. As far as ForsterTuncurry is concerned, people are perhaps moving away from the big smoke, and more residential dwellings are required. Forster is a busy spot during holiday periods, perhaps more short-stay accommodation is needed. The question remains however, whether the potential development needs to have such a significant impact on the existing golf course. But isolated as they may be, the ramifications are sending alarm bells around the golfing industry. During Inside Golf’s travels around the country over the past month attending and supporting annual awards nights and dinners, many from golf’s governing bodies, course managers, people with a genuine interest in the sport and the game, expressed concern that if Moore Park ‘falls’ the precedent will be set. If Moore Park, one of the busiest golfing venues in the country, a club with a history dating back to 1913, a course that currently tee off more than 90,000 rounds a year, 80-percent of that annual total being 18-hole rounds, succumbs to the wishes of Minns and Moore and becomes a nine-hole entity, and the industry will be on notice that no golf course is sacred, no club safe. Additional pages of Inside Golf would be needed to detail all the reasons Moore Park Golf should survive as is, that it delivers a diverse and significant introduction to golf with Sydney Golf Academy’s catering to 27,418 students over a 12-month period, 74 percent on those in the introductory groups being women’s enrolments. Or that Moore Park, or golf in general, provides wide ranging health benefits. And as mentioned previously, Moore Park delivers significant economic benefit to the local community. Add that Moore Park Golf takes part in active environmental practices. Let’s hope Clover’s Sydney City Council ground staff would continue to upkeep and maintain the proposed parklands in a similarly responsible fashion. I say leave our golf courses alone. What do you say? Rob Willis rob@insidegolf.com.au SALES: National Sales: Sam Arthur P: 1300 4653 00 M: 0410 575 303 | E: sam@insidegolf.com.au Northen NSW/QLD/NT Sales: David Ross M: 0439 612 458 | E: david.ross@insidegolf.com.au NSW/ACT Corp Sales: David Andrews M: 0404 871 479 | E: david.andrews@insidegolf.com.au Sydney/NSW Sales: Michael Hamilton M: 0423 455 572 | E: michael.hamilton@insidegolf.com.au NSW Central Coast, Newcastle, Hunter Valley Sales: Wendy Wilkinson M: 0414 905 232 | E: wendy@insidegolf.com.au VIC/TAS Sales: Marc Wilson M: 0419 107 143 | E: marc@insidegolf.com.au WA Sales: Gary Powell M: 0439 350 363 | E: gary@insidegolf.com.au SA Sales: Brett Crosby M: 0403 323 198 | E: brett@insidegolf.com.au ACCOUNTS: Sheridan Murphy M: 1300 465 300 | E: accounts@insidegolf.com.au
IN THIS ISSUE PRO NEWS 7 88 90 19TH HOLE EVENTS GOLF DIRECTORY 92 INDUSTRY NEWS 18 LETTERS 28 NEW PRODUCTS CLUB NEWS NSW MID NORTH COAST FEATURE 44 30 82 CELEBRITY SWINGER 17 BUNKERTO-BUNKER 27 CASUAL GOLF NETWORK 54 CLUB NEWS CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE 46 WIN ONE lucky Inside Golf Reader will win an Ai-ONE Double Wide DB Odyssey putter, valued at $499. Make more putts and lower your score with an Odyssey Ai-ONE, a putter unmatched level of performance, leveraging Callaway’s industry-leading Artificial Intelligence design and supercomputing capabilities. What has been created is a putter with the most advanced insert in golf. All golfers, even the best Tour players in the world, miss the centre of face from time to time, and when losing speed relative to a centre hit, the ball doesn’t roll as far as intended, resulting in more misses or putts finishing further from the hole. The multi-material construction of the Ai-ONE Double Wide DB Odyssey includes unique contours on the back of the face to minimise ball speed losses on off-centre hits, while greatly increasing the sweet spot. Added to that, the urethane insert delivers more consistent ball speeds, even from off-centre hits, leaving putts closer to the hole. To achieve this unmatched level of performance of the Ai-ONE Double Wide DB Odyssey, the back of the insert has been made out of aluminium and added a White Hot Urethane to the striking surface, providing the iconic White Hot feel millions of golfers have grown to love. These enhancements provide incredible feel, speed control, and consistency in a design that’s changing the face of putting. The Odyssey designers and engineers also developed a Panlite window that makes these contours visible, along with an automotive grade polymer that provides great clarity and scratch resistance. The window makes these putters unlike anything that’s come before and highlights this extraordinary technology. While completing the Ai-ONE Double Wide DB Odyssey is a lightweight steel shaft with 20-30 grams (depending on the grip) of counterbalance weight in the butt end, an evolution of Odyssey’s Stroke Lab Weighting and a unique Navy Blue PVD Finish that sets them apart and offers a premium look. And the Ai-ONE Double Wide DB Odyssey putter could be yours. Remember, you have to be in it, to win it, enter now by visiting www.insidegolf.com.au/competitions. Start making more putts with a new Ai-ONE Double Wide DB Odyssey putter. Entries close December 31, 2023. Bob has the ‘Tour Edge’ WE have a winner from the September 2023 Inside Golf competition, with Bob Liubinskas the recipient of a new set of Tour Edge Exotics E723. A complete set of clubs, including driver, fairway wood, hybrid, 4-iron through to pitching wedge, along with a Tour Edge Staff Bag, Bob’s prize is valued at almost $3,800. The prize was courtesy of Drummond Golf, exclusive distributors of Tour Edge in Australia. “Overwhelmed and happy,” was Bob’s initial response, before adding; “the clubs arrived, haven’t been game to use yet – maybe tomorrow to get a feel. “What a birthday present. 75 last Sunday and my brother in SA put me on to the Tour Edge as he got them for his retirement. What a coincidence. I’m in heaven.” Bob, a member of the Hawks Nest club on the NSW north coast, was presented his prize, the spectacular set of Tour Edge by Club Pro Andrew McCormack. 6 December 2023 www.insidegolf.com.au Ai-ONE Double Wide DB ODYSSEY PUTTER www.gamegolf.com SMART GOLFERS SCORE LOWER. A Completely New Performance Dashboard Designed Specifically For Your Game | GameGolf.com The New DEMO DAYS 91
December 2023 www.insidegolf.com.au PRO NEWS 7 Kiwis take flight on a ‘super’ Sunday Phoenix Campbell, the winner of the Queensland PGA Championship. NEW ZEALAND professionals enjoyed a super Sunday in midNovember, with three Kiwi players registering wins in significant tournaments around the world. First up it was Kerry Mountcastle, a former electrician shocking the field in breaking through for his first win on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia at the 2023 Gippsland Super 6 at Warragul Country Club in Victoria. Mountcastle, who moved into first place on the Australasian order or merit with the win, outlasted Queenslander Jake McLeod in the six-hole final of the event which switches from strokeplay after the first three days, to matchplay featuring the leading 24 players on the Sunday. Just a few hours later it was Ben Campbell flying the flag for New Zealand, the 32-yearold birdieing the 17th and 18th holes in Norris a record-breaker at Richmond J ASON Norris broke the tournament record with a 14-under par total in winning the Nova Employment Australian Senior PGA Championship at the Richmond Golf Club west of Sydney. Norris shot a second straight round of 6-under-par 64 on the final day, in securing a five-shot win over Peter Lonard and Stephen Allan. The South Australian-born, Queensland-based Norris joined an illustrious list of former winners, one including the likes of Lee Trevino, Orville Moody, Peter Fowler, Rodger Davis, Peter Senior, Andre Stolz and 2022 champion Richard Green. “What an event to win. I’m so excited,” Norris said. “What an event, anything with ‘Australian’ in front of it is awesome.” Norris was presented with the trophy by past winner and PGA of Australia Chairman Rodger Davis. “He’s the king, isn’t he? What a legend,” Norris said. “He’s also on the trophy as well. Nice of him to come and celebrate with us.” After spending most of 2023 on the European Senior circuit, Norris returned home in strong form, challenging the ‘youngsters’ at the recent WA Open where he finished in a tie for second. The win for Norris was worth $27,243, while for Lonard it was the third time he had finished as the runner-up in the Australian PGA Senior championship. Phoenix rises to the challenge at the Qld PGA A BIRDIE at Nudgee Golf Club’s final hole saw 22-year-old Victorian Phoenix Campbell finish one stroke ahead of seven players in becoming the first amateur to win the Queensland PGA title. In a log jam of players challenging for the title teeing off on the daunting water-protected parthree finishing hole, Campbell flushed 7-iron on the 164-metre hole before holing the putt for the win. Playing in the final group, David Micheluzzi had a 10-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole to match Campbell’s 9-under total, however his putt to force a playoff slid by. “I knew the 7-iron was a good club,” Campbell told PGA.org.au “Walking up there, it was never going to be anything other than that. “I said to Ben, my caddie, on the tee, we were talking about line and I said, ‘I’m going dead at it. Let’s have a crack.’ I was a little bit amped up. It definitely went a bit further but it was good to come back and have a crack at the putt.” Campbell, who has since turned professional, was ineligible for the winner’s prize money, the seven players who finished second each earning $18,085. Gippsland Super 6 champion Kerry Mountcastle. New champion Jason Norris with PGA of Australian chairman Rodger Davis and Nova Employment’s Kerry Spindler. Then last but far from least, senior star Steven Alker would hang on despite the challenges of Ernie Els and Stephen Ames to win the Charles Schwab Cup at the Phoenix Country Club. The win by Alker, who is now resident in Arizona, saw him finish second behind Steve Stricker on the season-ending Schwab Cup standings, proving his efforts in leading the US Champions Tour money list is 2022 was no fluke. It was Alker’s second win on the PGA Champions Tour in 2023 and the seventh victory of his career. It was an amazing day for New Zealand golf, kicked off by Mountcastle, who had to play 30-holes and beat five opponents on Sunday to win at Warragul, then finished off by Alker in fine style in Phoenix. edging out Queenslander Cameron Smith by one stroke at the Hong Kong Open. Campbell returned a last day 4-under par 66, for a 19-under par total for his first Asian Tour title, in the US$2million LIV-supported International Series event. DistributeD by golf imports | 03 5277 3977
www.pga.org.au Your experts in golf Scan the QR code to find your local PGA Professional or visit pga.org.au PGA Professional: Mark Stephens, Sandy Golf Links, Victoria Elevate your game with the experts in golf.
December 2023 www.insidegolf.com.au PRO NEWS 9 Cathedral – ‘Build it and they will come’ THE ghost of legendary baseballer ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson once told Kevin Coster’s character in the 1989 baseball movie Field of Dreams, “build it and they will come”. Costner listened, constructing a magical and mystical baseball diamond and a collection of great players of the past did in fact return, if in spirit not so much in person. Going back as far as 1997 and Melbourne merchant banker and businessman David Evans, following a visit to the US Masters, may have heard similar voices. Familiar through family connections with the area around Thornton in the regional northeast of Victoria two hours from Melbourne, Evans acquired some spectacular land and inspired by his trip to Augusta, somewhat followed Costner’s lead. Evans, with considerable help from Greg Norman’s design and construction team, built the Cathedral Lodge and Golf Club, a welcoming private facility that would quickly become recognised as one of the best courses in Australia. Now some two decades later, Evans’ dream is a reality, the quality of the course is unchallenged, and the second staging of the Cathedral Invitational is set to again host a field comparable, if not better, than any other assembled during the Australian golfing summer. With help from many Evans has provided a unique stage for the stars to perform, with a stellar line up of local and international professionals locked in to compete at the 2023 Cathedral Invitational presented by Atom, on December 5-6. https://www.parmaker.com Rob Willis rob@insidegolf.com.au As Evans explained to Inside Golf, while the course is presented in pristine condition all year round for members and their guests, the plan has always been to entice the game’s elite professionals to play at Cathedral. “I worked with Greg Norman to build the Cathedral golf club over a period of two to three years and part of the model was to always have a professional tournament here,” Evans said. And what they now have is a two-day tournament with an attractive $100,000 first place prize purse, following closely a concept successful at the prestigious Seminole club in Florida, with the pro’s playing alongside club members on day one, before a professionals only field compete on day two. Adam Scott, with his years of experience having played all over the world, has offered Evans a few words of wisdom, while Marc Leishman has been instrumental in assembling the playing talent, headlined by 2022 British Open champ Cameron Smith. “Adam Scott and his family, particularly his father Phil Scott, have been helping me along the way. His advice was to just grow it organically, don’t try to push too hard. He said it has got the potential to be something really sensational,” Evans said. “(Cam Smith) has heard great things about it and his LIV teammates talked him into coming. We’re going to be pleased to see him. He’s obviously very close to Marc Leishman who has had a big role in getting a lot of the players to come here to play. “Marc loves the golf course, is really excited about the concept and it’s probably him who has talked Cam into coming,” Evans added. In addition to Smith, Scott and Leishman, former US Open winner Geoff Ogilvy, current Australasian Order of Merit champion David Micheluzzi, veteran leftie Nick O’Hern and Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts a former Ryder Cupper, have committed to be a part of the men’s field, Grace Kim, who recorded a victory in her rookie year on the LPGA Tour in 2023, along with young guns Gabi Ruffels and Cassie Porter, amongst the female players competing. Throw in the likes of well-known professionals such as Brendan Jones, Brett Rumford, Dimi Papadatos, defending champion Nick Flanagan, as well as Matt Jager, who is also the Director of Golf at Cathedral with local knowledge on his side, and it’s a quality field by anyone’s standards. At the Cathedral Invitational the men and women compete for the same trophy, same prize purse, at the same event. As to what to expect when players and spectators arrive at Cathedral, Jager enthuses about what is a unique golfing experience. “It’s the most Australian place I’ve ever played golf,” Jager began. “People come up here and they get this really cool, Australian experience. Kangaroos, wombats and cockatoos, hay bales around, cattle lining some of the fairways and I don’t know of another place which is really like it.” Spectators are welcome on the second day of the 2023 Cathedral Invitational on Wednesday, December 6, with tickets available from Ticketek. For more information visit www.cathedralinvitational.com.au. Also keep an eye out for a highlights package from the 2023 Cathedral Invitational to be shown on Fox/Kayo and Channel 9. Adam Scott returns for the 2023 Cathedral Invitational.
December 2023 www.insidegolf.com.au PRO NEWS 10 Stubbs has Georgia on his mind after Asia-Pacific win WISE old heads nodded knowingly when young Victorian golfer, Jasper Stubbs, won a ticket to The Masters in Augusta, Georgia and to the 152nd Open Championship with a come from behind victory in the AsiaPacific Amateur at Royal Melbourne. This kid was renowned for his work ethic on and off the golf course, and that included not only working in the gym but also in in his father’s bin business during COVID. And old timers also liked the fact that young Jasper was a fighter; there were others in elite programs around the country blessed with more brilliance, but none could match his never-say-die attitude and will to hang in against the odds, with all those qualities on display in spades for the good-sized gallery for the final round of the championship. Stubbs, 21, who plays out of Peninsula Kingswood Country Club, completed his victory at the second playoff hole late on the Sunday of Michael Davis michael.davis@insidegolf.com.au www.pga.org.au WATCH LIVE & ON DEMAND ALL SUMMER PGA.ORG.AU VIEW FULL SCHEDULE the tournament with a tap-in putt for par at RM’s tough 18th. “This is a dream come true. I can’t believe it,” Stubbs said. Stubbs had started the day well off the pace but a closing 69, including a back nine of 33, vaulted him into a three-way play-off against two outstanding Chinese players in Wenyi Ding and Sampson Zheng. The final putt was a formality, but it prompted huge celebrations with his Golf Australia teammates spraying him with champagne. Two-over for the final round through six holes, at that point Stubbs was seven shots behind Zheng, a four-shot leader through 54 holes who signed for a last day 75 that would ultimately cost him the championship. Moving from Bairnsdale in Gippsland with the family when he was 12, to get himself closer to the action, Stubbs won the 2022 New Zealand Amateur, his biggest victory to that point, but in some ways was overshadowed by others, including his sister Piper, a Royal Melbourne club champion now on a golf scholarship in America who was also in the Golf Australia programs. Stubbs lives nearby in Highett, has played Royal Melbourne a lot and confessed he benefited from his intimate local knowledge. “I have a lot of mates who are members here,” he said. “I’ve got one member I’ve been playing with here since I was 14 or 15, so the best part of six or seven years. My sister, as well, is the women’s club champ here. So, I get out here a lot. I knew I had a good strategy for the week, and yeah, it just all came together as well. “I thought they (his wildly cheering team-mates) were going to get me in the bunker (during the play-off) for a while there. They kept pushing me, my feet weren’t on the ground for a lot of it. I was trying to tell them to stop because we were getting close to that bunker (on the 18th). But I really enjoyed that and I really thank the lads for doing that.” The winner praised his caddie, veteran bagman Simon Clarke, for planting the psychological seed on the first hole of the tournament, with Stubbs having the honour of taking the field away in the first round. “He (Clarke) said that it would be pretty awesome to have the first shot and the last putt (for victory) on Sunday,” Stubbs said. Stubbs plans to play several practice rounds at Augusta National early next year after his official gilt-edged invitation to the tournament arrives in his letter box. Come next April, Stubbs will be teeing it up alongside compatriots Cameron Smith, Adam Scott and Jason Day at The Masters, but only after working with his father, Peter, and the family’s skip bin company to make ends meet. into The Open Championship, to be played at Royal Troon in 2024. Before next year’s exciting schedule kicks in, his feet barely touched the ground since the Royal Melbourne victory in what was a whirlwind period filled with interviews, celebrations, phone calls. Stubbs then had some golf to play closer to home, flying straight to Auckland the day after his win to defend his New Zealand amateur title. He was eventually beaten in the round of 16 in New Zealand after a strong performance in the strokeplay qualifying, before it was back to Victoria after receiving a special invitation to play as an amateur in the Super Sixes Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia event at Warragul east of Melbourne. “My game still feels in pretty good shape, and I think I’m a little more rested for this week than I was for New Zealand,” he said before the PGA event. Stubbs would qualify in the top 24 at the Super Sixes, beat Maverick Antcliff in round one of the matchplay section, before bowing out in a quality six-hole second round contest against Jake McLeod. Stubbs became the fourth Australian winner of the Asia Pacific Championship, following on from Antonio Murdaca who won at Royal Melbourne in 2014, Curtis Luck in South Korea in 2016 and Harrison Crowe last year in Thailand. “I’ve done plenty of work with my old man since I finished high school in 2019,” Stubbs said. “I worked all through COVID when there wasn’t much golf happening. “Whenever I’m home and have a chance to earn a bit of money, I’ve got to make it up somewhere. It’s pretty easy having your dad as your boss. “And all credit to my parents. I wouldn’t be able to play golf without them.” Dad Peter and mum Fiona, a pharmacist, moved from their Gippsland home almost a decade ago to allow Jasper to attend school in Melbourne and pursue his golfing dreams. In addition to playing The Masters, Stubbs also receives an exemption Jasper Stubbs (centre) with Wenyi Ding (left) and Sampson Zheng.
December 2023 www.insidegolf.com.au PRO NEWS 12 Legends line up for Sunshine Coast swing ICONS Ian Baker-Finch and Peter Senior are expected to take part in the Sunshine Coast Series that will serve as the culmination to the 2023 PGA Legends Tour season. Always a popular spot on the Legends Tour calendar, Queensland’s Sunshine Coast will play host to four events between December 13 and December 21 with a total of $123,000 in prizemoney. Sunshine Coast Council is once again providing tremendous support to the Series with a $3,000 bonus prize pool for the overall event. The course where Baker-Finch learned the game as a youngster, the Elgin Valley Legends Pro Am at Beerwah is the first event of the Series on Wednesday, December 13 to be followed by the Sunshine Coast Masters at Twin Waters Resort over two days from Thursday, December 14. Maroochy River Golf Club will play host to the Queensland Senior PGA Championship from December 17-18 with Headland Golf Club to stage the season finale, the Living Choice Australian Legends Tour Championship, from December 20-21. VICTORIAN Adam Henwood cruised to a three-shot win to win the NSW Senior Open at Thurgoona Country Club Resort. Starting the final day with a four-shot advantage, Henwood managed to keep the chasing pack at bay, with his 12-under total in the 54-hole event matching the tournament record held by Michael Long (2018) and the inaugural winner in 2017, Grant Kenny. Queenslander Scott Barr finished in outright second ahead of a fast-finishing Stephen Allen, Peter Lonard and Peter O’Malley, with the trio tied for third at eight-under. “I actually played really, really well today,” Henwood said. “I’ve been tinkering with a major grip change for a while, and it’s paid off. “I was trying not to think about leading, but coming down the last, I asked Tim (his Caddy), am I leading or not? He told me I was by three, but I thought it was five. “Then I started to think, how do I manage this? Don’t hit that, don’t hit that,” he added. Henwood admitted the success, probably his biggest, had been a long time coming, and to do it while staring down the challenge of two of his idols in the final group of the day was extra special. “Those two (Lonard and O’Malley) are heroes of mine, and to beat them feels pretty cool.” “Yeah, I love the place,” an ecstatic Henwood said of the Thurgoona course. “I didn’t know what to expect coming in, it’s probably my best win.” Henwood too good at NSW Senior Open Victorian Adam Henwood, the winner of NSW Senior Open at Thurgoona By Tony Webeck “We are really looking forward to these events that cap a very successful season of nearly 80 events across Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and Papua New Guinea,” said Andy Rogers, PGA Legends Tour tournament coordinator. “We are expecting great fields with players such as Peter Senior, Peter Lonard, Andre Stolz and Ian Baker-Finch all likely to play. “The Sunshine Coast Council have come on board to help promote the events and, in turn, the region. “And with a $3,000 bonus fund across the four events, competition will be intense.” At each of the four events professionals will play alongside amateurs and sponsors. Spectators are welcome to come along and watch with no charge for entry. Such is the camaraderie of the events and the relaxed environment in which they are played, Australian superstar Adam Scott made a guest appearance last year, playing in the final round of the Australian Legends Tour Championship and Headland and presenting the trophy to champion, Jason Norris. Winner of the past two Order of Merits, Andre Stolz will have to stave off challenges from both Brad Burns and Chris Taylor to make it three straight. The Order of Merit winner receives an invitation to play the KitchenAid US Senior PGA Championship in the US in May, adding even further importance to the Sunshine Coast Series. Adam Scott presents Jason Norris with his trophy as the winner of last year’s Legends Tour Championship. The Twin Waters course will play host to the 2023 Sunshine Coast Masters. South Africa Golfing Adventure sales@travelrite.com.au • www.travelrite.com.au 1800 630 343 South Africa’s phenomenal golf is reason enough to visit. When you add a safari and visits to Sun City, Cape Town, Hermanus and the Garden Route, the experience proves to be amazing. You will enjoy nine world-class rounds of golf including Fancourt Links #2, Leopard Creek #5 and Arabella #8. 1 to 16 November 2024 Led by PGA Professional Robert Stock
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December 2023 www.insidegolf.com.au PRO NEWS 14 Rod Pampling – family, winning and celebrating success QUEENSLANDER Rod Pampling, a three-time PGA Tour winner recently grabbed his second win on the over50 PGA Tour Champions. We sat down with the 54-year-old Pampling and talked about his win, his family, and what it meant to have a number of Aussies celebrate his latest victory. How is life on the PGA Tour Champions and how did it feel to get your second PGATC win at the SAS Championship? We’re all a little bit shorter off the tee obviously, but other than that, everyone else still plays phenomenal golf. To still get a win amongst these guys, it’s just awesome. It’s obviously great to get back to Hawaii with my win. You can now plan your year a bit better obviously, but getting a win against these guys, it doesn’t matter where it is, is just really satisfying. We’ve got eight hall of famers and there’s another six who are playing incredible golf. So, to put your nose in front on one of these weeks was just phenomenal. What’s the camaraderie like on the PGA Tour Champions with your fellow Aussies? It’s always good. There are a few times where we can have a sledge with each other, but it kind of goes over the top of some players’ heads. When I finished there were at least six or seven guys waiting for me. Alker, who obviously is a Kiwi but we all know that when we have Australia and New Zealand fight against each other it’s always intense but we’re friends afterwards. By Garrett Johnston Twitter: @JohnstonGarrett Then my good buddy Johnny Senden waited ‘til the end as well. That was just great to see him there and Richard Green and Stuart Appleby. It was phenomenal. It’s a fun time of our life to be in and to win it makes it a little extra special. For the next few days everyone was telling me congratulations. It doesn’t matter where you win, it’s hard. We have different issues to battle with than we did as younger guys - our body acts up here and there - but we all know what we have and it’s always special to win. Your coaches have often said if you just take the emotions out of the game, we’d all be legends, right? Exactly. I think it’s about just staying disciplined in your practice. Thankfully my wife as a clinical psychologist who has helped me over the years, dealing with situations. I wouldn’t say that I’m a great student but when it comes time, and like on Sunday it was great all day, I knew what I was doing out there, I was in control, I had the breathing down and the slow walking. Pretty much everything you do in sports, you do the opposite with golf and then you’ll be pretty close to what you need to do to keep calm. It’s not slow over the ball but slow to the ball, and then keeping it a nice and easy pace. For me, I always look up high and it helps you breath better versus looking down at the ground and kicking your toes and saying why me, poor me. You always look up and be confident and smile. It’s just little things like that which help you get rid of the negativity and helps you concentrate a little bit more. You’re a dad of three in their teens, what’s that like for you? It’s difficult being away so much still. But this is our job, this is what we’ve always done. That part is hard being on the road so much. You’d like to be at home a little bit more for the kids. You want to really be a father to them. You certainly miss out on a lot of things, but it’s kind of nice that they can still actually see that I can still play golf. They hadn’t seen a whole lot of me playing well, like when I won on the regular Tour. When I won the Sas Championship in October they were excited and they watched it on tv. Those things are great for them to share in. Your son Sam plays college golf and loves the game, how hard was it as a professional golfing father to know when it was time to entrust a coach with his success and swing a few years back? It’s extremely tough. Obviously, I’ve been around pro golf a long time and seen it all and so you try and tell (Sam) that. I think sometimes we can maybe push a little bit too much information on them and unfortunately, we were getting to log our heads so then it was time for us to find a coach. He was keen on the game, so I said, ‘alright let’s start with my coach Alex Murray. So, we’re all on a three-way chat on text and it’s good, I sit back, and I try and let Alex and Sam work it out together. What I’m offering now is advice when he needs to know how to get around a specific golf course. The funny thing is if you tell your kid something he won’t listen, but when someone else tells them something they will listen (laughs). That’s where we were, whereas now three years on it’s been good. We can chat about different things now and I can explain what Alex means when Sam doesn’t understand it. How often are you back home to Australia? Covid shut us down for a couple years. We headed back in 2022 for a short period, but we’ll be going there for the Australian PGA and a couple of other Pro-Ams on the senior tour, but I just wanted to get a break by going to Australia and visit with friends and family that I hadn’t seen for a long time. Yep, I definitely will play my home course Royal Queensland. I’m looking forward to trying to take Cameron Smith down (laughs). I’ll try anyway. I know I’m a long way behind him in distance, but I’ve played there a few times and I know my way around. How sentimental are you about your time on the PGA Tour when you look back now? I think it’s just the people that you meet over the years. We’ve met so many great people and made so many good friends. You take away the wins from it all and that’s what it comes down to - it’s the people that you meet over the years - so many amazing people over the 20 years of golf, it’s been fantastic. They all make you feel welcome. It’s been a great place to come and play, and thankfully I played well enough to be out here for this long. It’s a journey of ups and downs and hopefully you can ride the ups as long as you can. Garrett Johnston is a golf journalist based in Washington, DC. He hosts the Beyond the Clubhouse Podcast with players, caddies, coaches, and golf broadcasters. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/ podcast/beyond-the-clubhouse/ id1522077847
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December 2023 www.insidegolf.com.au PRO NEWS 16 Family comes first for Club Pro champ Docking FOR someone who hardly ever plays golf tournaments and doesn’t think he hits the ball far enough to compete with most touring professionals, Matt Docking is building himself quite a record. He’s just won his fourth PGA Professionals Championship National Final, shooting 10-under-par at Heritage Golf and Country Club, including a final round 67, which gained him a start in last month’s Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane. The PGA Professionals Championship is the benchmark by which the skill of Australia’s vocational pros are measured – the grand final for professionals who generally occupy themselves teaching others how to play golf, rather than playing it themselves. Docking’s the only man to have won it four times, and on another occasion, in 2016, he was runner-up. “I love playing competitively, but I rarely get the opportunity these days. The National Final was the only multi-round tournament I’ve played this year,” Docking said. And even though he was thrilled to have an opportunity to tee it up in the Australian PGA, he was under no illusions about the challenge he faced. “These young players hit the ball so far it’s difficult for someone like me to compete,” he said. “They’re in another league altogether. “It’s a mental hurdle for me. I’ll just have to get out of my own way.” Playing in Queensland won’t be a new experience, however, for a man who’s spent the past six years as head pro at Royal Hobart By Peter Owen Golf Club. He was head professional at Gailes Golf Club between 2016 and 2018. Soon after his National Final success, Docking reluctantly bade farewell to Royal Hobart, where he’s twice been named Tasmanian PGA Professional of the Year in the state golf industry awards. He’s just taken up a role at Murray Downs Golf Club, near Swan Hill on the Victoria/NSW border. Indeed, he had only a week to settle in before flying to Brisbane for his Australian PGA Championship commitment. “We loved our time at Royal Hobart and, who knows, we may return to Tasmania one day,” he said. “But we have two daughters who have special needs and, unfortunately, there aren’t the facilities in Hobart. There’s a special school in Swan Hill, which will give them the best chance to succeed in life.” For Docking, returning to the Murray River is almost a homecoming. He grew up in the Echuca/Moama area and completed his traineeship in 2009 at nearby Tocumwal. He played on the Australian circuit for a couple of years, and also in Asia, before realising that constant travel and play wasn’t for him. He became an assistant pro at Murrumbidgee Country Club, discovered a passion for coaching, and realised his future was in the vocational side of the industry. He was appointed head professional at Cowra in 2015, before moving north to Gailes two years later. Docking’s been assisted throughout his career by wife Courtney, who’s also a PGA member. A former member of the Symetra (now Epson) Tour in the US, she’s an accredited Community Instructor and has run many programs for women and girls at Royal Hobart. She is expected to take up a similar role at Murray Downs. Docking’s last day 67 saw him beat Queenslander TJ King by one shot, with Jack McLeod five strokes further back in third position. He collected the first place cheque of $9,000 to go with his PGA Championship exemption. King, also the runner up in the 2022 event, also earned a place in the field at Royal Queensland. To qualify for the National Final Docking tied with Scott Laycock in first place at the Tasmanian state qualifying event played at the Barnbougle Lost Farm course. Matt Docking shows the style that has made him a four-time PGA Professionals Champion. - Photo Courtesy Golf Australia
December 2023 www.insidegolf.com.au CELEBRITY SWINGER 17 CELEBRITY SWINGER By Andrew Crockett Golf is no joke for Jimeoin IRISH/AUSTRALIAN comedian Jimeoin is one of showbiz’s true workhorses. When he agreed to sit down for an interview, a peek at his tour schedule revealed a gruelling 50 shows in just two months throughout October and November. Yet, between those backto-back nights on stage, where he holds the audience with nothing more than himself and a microphone, one can’t help but wonder if the pressure of golf could ever faze the Irish star. In the intricate comedy of existence, where golf and mirth join hands for a spirited jig on any given day, it is clear that Ireland and golf share a connection as endless as the glee one derives from observing an amateur’s slapstick routine on the links, zigzagging in a bewildered quest for fortune, forever convinced they’re a swing away from striking gold, even when gold lies in the opposite direction. Jimeoin is no rogue amateur however, having been schooled in the game as a youngster in Ireland, flirting with the fringes of the ’A grade status’, he might just take a ‘tenner’ off you if he can get the flatstick working. Can you remember your first game of golf, who got you into it? Jimeoin: My Dad got me into golf. My first time was probably not even a full game. Once we got away from the clubhouse my father would let me have a crack. Then we used to sneak on at the second hole, as kids. I’m from Portstewart. The Irish Open has been played there. Portrush is three miles away, where Shane Lowry won The Open in 2019. Believe it or not, back then golf was a very accessible, cheap game…especially when you didn’t pay and sneaked on at the second hole. Have you ever had a beer with Shane Lowry or any of the other Irish champions? Jimeoin: I went to school when Heather, Darren Clarke’s wife who unfortunately passed away from cancer. I’ve met Darren as he lives in Portrush. But we didn’t really talk about golf to be honest. Like some of the sports stars we have interviewed recently, is golf something you tend to do to relax while on tour? Jimeoin: Yes, it’s one of the few sports I can still play and I really enjoy it. Can be really annoying as well. I’m in Ireland as we speak and I’m playing Portrush on Thursday. I had a putt for a birdie the last time I played there on the first hole. Got a par. But Rory McIlroy took an 11 there, so I beat him by 7 shots. Can you name some great courses you have played around the world? Jimeoin: Portstewarts, Portrush, Castlerock, Bonville. All the Melbourne sand belt courses. That one on Hamilton Island. That’s ridiculously hard, but beautiful. Cottesloe in WA. The Heritage, The National. I could go on. You must have a funny golf story or two…. Jimeoin: Lucas Parsons (Former Australian tournament professional ) gave me a driver at “The Jack” that he couldn’t hit. All he could do was slice it. I couldn’t believe my luck until I played with it and nothing but slices. I gave it to my father who took it back to Ireland and could do nothing but slice it, so he traded it in for a putter. The following week he played in a competition match play, with a guy he had never met before. The guy at Portstewart sliced his drive onto the beach and turned to my father and said ‘that bloody driver, I just bought it in the Pro shop second hand.’ It was the same one that Lucas gave me. It had been around the world slicing the whole way. Can you tell us about your relationship with the late Jack Newton, how many times you may have played ‘The Jack’ and perhaps a story from that event. Jimeoin: I played in the Jack originally in 1991 or ‘92 and have known the family since then. Clint was a little shit at nine or 10. Anyway he’s alright now that’s the main thing. I loved Jack’s stories that I would sometimes pretend I wasn’t listening to, but really I was as they were gold. Jack Newton was quite the storyteller. Like the time he broke the Irish golfer Christy O’Connor Jnr‘s ribs in a bear hug as Christy had accidentally hit him….and then his father and Christy O’Connor senior nearly came to blows over. Laughed my head off. Do you get invited to play any other celebrity ‘pro-ams’, and who are some of the professional golfers and celebrity types that you have played with? Jimeoin: I marked Wayne Grady‘s card once at “The Jack” as we played together. I’ve played the Australian Masters on the Wednesday a few times and performed at a black-tie function for the Greg Norman event. There was a dancefloor in front of the stage, and John Daly wandered in a pair of shorts and a Hawaiian shirt holding a six pack, and stood on the dancefloor, listening to me and laughing. Lowest handicap? Jimeoin: A 77 was my best score. I’ve had two hole in one’s. One of them, I had a journalist and a photographer with me, at the 17th Barwon Heads, Victoria. The second one was at Noosa Springs. 10.6 is my lowest handicap. Are you more likely to be ‘chipping for par’ than putting for birdie? Jimeoin: Can’t chip. Shaking in my boots with a pitching wedge in my hand. Prefer the Texas wedge. Can you see some sort of similarity with the pressure a pro golfers feels to what you feel on stage? Jimeoin: Dion Kipling (a great golfer) saw me going on stage once, and said there is a level of focus there that is not unfamiliar to a golfer teeing up in a tournament. I see the life of a pro golfer very similar to that of a touring comedian. Hotel rooms, trying to make a living out of it, and the subtlety of something working or not working in your act. Some jokes you could just be overswinging on it. When back in Australia, where are you most likely to play golf? Jimeoin: The Heritage, Metropolitan or Royal Melbourne. If you could have a round with anyone, name an ideal group? Jimeoin: Alice Cooper is good. I like playing with my friends that I went to school with. That would be my ideal game and I’ve done it a lot. You are playing a bunch of gigs in Australia in December? Jimeoin: jimeoin.com will give you details of where I’m performing. But the big one is “The Jack” in December. Mate, see you there. The Jack THE Jack Newton Celebrity Classic is the longest running and most successful celebrity pro-am golf tournament in Australia, with the inaugural event held in December 1979 at the Tewantin Noosa Golf Club on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. A two-day event, ‘The Jack’ features plenty of fun both on and off the course, while supporting Diabetes (ENDIA) and the Jack Newton Junior Golf Foundation, with over $7million raised for two charities which were close to Jack’s heart. Jack Newton passed away in April of 2022, however the event which pairs celebrities, golf professionals and those looking for a unique golfing experience, continues in 2023. Jimeoin is one of a number of celebrities who have been a longtime supporters of The Jack. This year scheduled for December 18/19/20 at the Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort in the NSW Hunter Valley, anyone interested in taking part can access more information or entry forms from the tournament website at www.thejackclassic.com.au For any stockists interested please contact State Manager Dean Woods: dean_woods@debortoli.com.au 0438 089 775 | 07 3287 2500 on the De Bortoli Online Shop (Excludes Gift Vouchers) Enter discount code “insidegolf” at checkout. 10% DISCOUNT Scan here to receive a De Bortoli is a proud partner of GMA
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