Beste man wins Daikin Night Golf Shootout
BY Bruce Young | Von Nida Tour | 2005 Queensland PGA | General | 08 Nov 2005
The week of golf surrounding the Greater Building Society Queensland PGA got off to a fine start last night when the Daikin Night Golf Shootout was played out under a cloudless Gold Coast sky at the Emerald Lakes Golf Club on the Gold Coast.
Nine players, who will tee it up in Thursday’s Von Nida Tour event, played in last night’s event and they were joined by Sunshine Coast professional Tamara Johns. After an hour or so of food and entertainment the participants were introduced to the crowd estimated to be around 1000 strong. The event is played over nine holes on the floodlit back nine of Emerald Lakes with the format seeing one player being eliminated per hole leaving just two players to contest the par four 18th. The player to drop out of the contest on each hole is determined by the highest score but in the event of a tie for that dubious honour, the player eliminated is the one who is the farthest the hole in regulation.
The first to go was Tamara Johns, after her second to the par four 10th raced through the green and she took six. A remark was soon made that those left ’were playing as if there was no Tamara’, one of many funny cracks during a night of entertainment.
The next to go was Nick Flanagan who blocked his tee shot right at the 11th and when he found water it was all but over. Flanagan heads to the USPGA Tour School next week but after a win at the recent Minniecome and Burke Queensland Masters he will be disappointed with his early exit.
At the 12th hole Peter Senior pulled his second left at the par five and when he eventually made a bogey six he said goodnight much to the disappointment of his many fans.
At the 13th, the par three, South Australian left hander, Adam Bland, pulled his tee shot badly at the short par three and it was all over.
The next was a par five and locally based tennis convert Scott Draper dropped out after being determined as the player the most distance from the hole in regulation.
At the 15th Eddie Barr was only just long with his second but it was enough to make the difference when the decision was made as to who would not continue.
The next hole saw defending Queensland PGA Champion Kurt Barnes leave early when he pulled his second long and left. He was not as bad as New Zealander Tony Christie, but Christie was able to save par after making a three metre putt and when Barnes took five he was gone.
At the seventeenth hole, with just Christie, Rowan Beste and Scott Gardiner still alive, none were able to hit the green at the lengthy par three. All three made bogey and as per the pre-determined event rules that hole would be decided by a chip off. From some twenty five metres Best struggled to reach the green and came up two metres short. Gardiner pitched to three metres but when Christie left his short of the green but outside Best’s, it was down to two and they were both Gold Coast residents.
For the second consecutive year Scott Gardiner had reached the 18th in this competition. Last year he succumbed to a playoff pitch from now recent PGA Tour recruit Nathan Green but surely his greater experience there would hold him in good stead.
Gardiner drove it right and Beste was left. Gardiner was first to play and had his second right on line before finishing five metres short the hole. Beste now had a great opportunity to seal the deal with a good approach and he did just that finishing only a foot from the hole. When Gardiner missed his, the prizemoney was Beste’s.
For Beste it further rubber stamped a brilliant second season as a pro. He had been named the Rookie of the Year on Queensland’s Sunshine Tour in his first season in 2004 and now this year he has won the Order of Merit.
Beste plans to complete in the events he can in 2005 before heading to Asia to hopefully gain his Asian Tour card. He earns $5,000 for his win while Gardiner earns $2,200. For those who witnessed it, however, it was great entertainment.
