VIC PGA kicks off 2007 Von Nida Tour

BY Ewan Porter | Von Nida Tour | 2007 Victorian PGA Championship | Preview | 24 Jan 2007

The 2007 season is upon us with the first tournament of the year, the NAB Victorian PGA Championship, at Sanctuary Lakes commencing tomorrow. Those of us who have starts in the two co-sanctioned Nationwide Tour events are keen to get off to a flying start to build confidence leading in to the marquee tournaments.

Melbourne’s heat has the fairways firm and the greens playing relatively soft given the amount of water the greens staff has been applying to them.

The holiday season has obviously taken its toll on a few of my colleagues and I’ve noticed a few changes in body shapes since the last time we saw each other over a month ago at the Australian PGA Championship.

It’s apparent that plenty of Christmas cheer was consumed by most of the guys over the break and it will be interesting to see whether the cobwebs have been dusted off before this event.

The field this week includes many high profile players, including former Australian Masters champion and USPGA Tour player Craig Spence plus Peter Senior, who has supported many Von Nida events in the past.

There’s also the young guns looking to start their year with a bang including current PGA Tour player Steven Bowditch, 2006 Von Nida Tour Order of Merit Winner Marc Leishman, who was runner up here last year and European Tour rookie Andrew Tampion. That’s not to mention my regular practice partners who cannot be over looked – James Nitties and Aron Price.

You also have Scotty Draper who will be making his debut appearance in 2007, having acted as Lleyton Hewitt’s coach last week at the Australian Open tennis.

It will be interesting to see if last year’s second round leader can happen to put up a good performance after slipping into oblivion over the weekend last year. Will those demons come back to haunt yours truly, Ewan Porter? I am looking forward to getting the season underway in what promises to be an exciting week of golf here at Sanctuary Lakes.

This is the first of three Von Nida Tour events in a row for most of us, with the Victorian Open and NSW PGA to follow. For a lot of the players, it will be a great chance for us also to be reaching peak form leading into the two co-sanctioned Nationwide Tour events in Adelaide and Christchurch which immediately follow these Von Nida events.

It is always a good feeling to be back amongst the tournament atmosphere after coming off a months break. Everybody is very enthusiastic about the next few weeks, some appear to be even taking things a little too seriously as illustrated at dinner tonight where lemonades were all the order.

• Australian Ewan Porter will be writing for iseekgolf.com about life on the road as a touring pro.