Gold Coast revving up for Queensland PGA
BY Bruce Young | Von Nida Tour | 2005 Queensland PGA | General | 29 Oct 2005
The field for the tournament is taking shape with several of Australia’s leading and emerging players already entered. Peter Senior, who finished third here in 2003 and is the Australasian Tour’s greatest career money earner, will headline the line-up but there are many others who are more than capable of winning an event such as this.
Last year’s winner Kurt Barnes is back, as is the winner of the 2003 Queensland PGA David Diaz. All seven winners of the Von Nida Tour in season 2005 are entered including Barnes, Gavin Flint, Cameron Percy, Michael Wright, Tony McFadyean, Adam Bland and New Zealander Tony Christie. With the Minniecon & Burke Queensland Masters and Roadcon Queensland Open as lead up events it is expected that the winner of those two events will also be in the field.
Terry Price, who is still recovering from a broken leg is hoping that he might be able to play the event more especially because the Emerald Lakes course is a relatively flat layout. Nathan Green, on the verge of securing his USPGA Tour card, has also entered the event.
The 2003 US Amateur Champion Nick Flanagan has entered, playing his last event before heading to the US for his tilt at the USPGA Tour School.
The Greater Building Society Queensland PGA Championship will be played over a slightly different layout for the 2005 event with Emerald Lakes’ par five second hole being converted to a par four for the tournament. The event has seen some low scoring in its first two years at Emerald Lakes and the decision to alter the second hole has been, in part, a reaction to that.
“The course par was changed to 71 to toughen up the front nine as we wanted to introduce another challenging par four into the layout. The field will now have to consider options and angles from the tee in order that they can access the pin with their second,” said Senior Executive Officer of the Queensland PGA, Gavin Kirkman.
In addition to the first prize of A$15,750 the winner of this year’s Greater Building Society Queensland PGA Championship will also win a Yamaha Trail Bike valued at $5,500 provided courtesy of Yamaha Motor Corporation Pty Ltd.
Sports Event Management are the underwriters for a $50,000 hole in one prize for the first player to hole in one the at the par three third hole during rounds three and four of the Greater Building Society Queensland PGA Championship.
The tournament will continue the tradition it introduced in its first year at Emerald Lakes with the third staging of the highly popular Daikin Night Golf Shootout. This year the event reverts to its Monday night time slot having been forced into a weekend spot last year due to the heavy rains that came early in tournament week.
With nine holes fully floodlit, Emerald Lakes provides a unique opportunity for an event of this nature and if the first two years are anything to go by, the event will once again be one of the highlights of tournament week.
Many of the Queensland PGA Championship’s leading players, including two of the Gold Coast’s favourite golfing sons Peter Senior and Terry Price, are scheduled to play the event. Sunshine Coast based Tamara Johns will look to continue the good performances of Jenny Sevil (2003) and Johns in representing women’s golf.
The likely field is:
Peter Senior – Australasian Tour’s greatest ever money winner
Terry Price – Multiple Queensland PGA Championship winner
Kurt Barnes – Defending QLD PGA Champion
Nathan Green – Defending Daikin Shoot-out Champion
Adam Bland – Von Nida Tour Order of Merit leader
Rowan Beste – QLD Order of Merit winner
Tony Christie – Leading NZ player and VNT winner
Tamara Johns – Leading female Australian Professional
Nick Flanagan – Former US Amateur Champion
Scott Draper – Tennis / Golf Professional
Alternate – Eddie Barr
Source – Queensland PGA
