Toyota Queensland PGA Championship start delayed

BY Bruce Young | Von Nida Tour | 2004 Queensland PGA | General | 08 Nov 2004

With the heavy deluge of rain on the Gold Coast over the last 48 hours, tournament organisers at the Toyota Queensland PGA Championship have made the decision to delay the start of the tournament until Friday Nov 12th with the Pro Am now to be played on Thursday November 11th.

“It’s a case of balancing the requirements of the tournament and the golf course, which is still very wet, with the commercial requirements of the event,” said Senior Executive Officer of the Queensland PGA Gavin Kirkman. “We were keen to retain the pro am within the week’s activities while at the same time minimising the impact on the tournament. The first round of the Toyota Queensland PGA Championship will therefore be played on Friday, the second round on Saturday and the cut made at that point. A decision will be made on Friday as to whether there will be 18 or 36 holes on Sunday.”

Line up change at Daikin Night Golf Shootout
The rescheduling of the Daikin Night Golf Shootout to Saturday evening, as a result of the rain, will also mean that Nicole Lowien, who was listed in the field of ten players to play nine holes under lights for the chance to win $5000 and a Toyota Echo car, will now miss the event. Lowien heads for the US later this week to prepare for the final stage of USLPGA Tour qualifying and the change of date of the Daikin Night Golf Shootout from Monday means she will be unavailable. Taking her place in the field will be twenty five year old Queenslander Tamara Johns.

Johns was a successful Queensland Amateur golfer before turning professional, winning the Australian Foursomes Championships, the Queensland and South Australian Stroke Championships and making the Australian Tasman Cup team in 1999. Johns holds course records at The Grange in Adelaide and Royal Canberra amongst others. In 2001 she won the Colorado Women’s Open in the US.