GOLF
By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
PROFESSIONAL and amateur golfers gathered at the Traralgon Golf Club for the two-day event of the Traralgon Latrobe City WIN Network Pro-Am Classic.
From the Mornington Peninsula, Ed Donoghue claimed his maiden professional title in a one-shot clinch finishing nine-under par.
Debuting on the course, Donoghue praised Traralgon’s surface and while naturally jubilant with the victory, admitted the thought of securing his first trophy after so many times finishing second played on his mind.
“Pretty happy, it’s the first time I’ve been here so I didn’t really know what to expect but the course (was) definitely better than I thought, (it’s) a really great course,” he said.
“I haven’t won a pro-am before, I’ve come second so many times, so I’m just happy to get over the line – very relieved.
“It was kind of in the back of my head a little bit but I knew I was hitting the ball really nicely, so I was cutting a lot of opportunities.
“To be honest, I thought I was due to win one and it happened.”
Donoghue went bogey-free during his day one six-under performance that featured near perfect weather, only to see the second day arrive with a gustily wind leading to five straight pars.
He would then decompress and refocus to birdie three of his last four holes to jump to the top of the leaderboard.
“When I did that, I kind of thought I was in with a good chance, but yeah I didn’t look at the leaderboard with like nine holes to go, so I wasn’t really sure how everyone else was going,” Donoghue said.
However, Donoghue did have to sit idly after completing his round, as amateur Matthew Dahlsen came through trailing only by one shot.
Dahlsen, from the Peninsula-Kingswood Golf Club, arrived at the 18th hole right in front of the clubhouse with his ball sitting off the green – if he nailed it, Donoghue would be holding the winner’s trophy with someone else.
Dahlsen didn’t, which meant Donoghue finished proceedings a shot clear of the rest with Andre Lautee and Dahlsen on eight-under, claiming the classic win.
Donoghue took home more than $5000 for his breakthrough win and his single stand during the Gippsland Swing, as he now prepares for the New South Wales Open starting tomorrow (November 14).
The pro’s shoot-out proceeded play with Matthew McFarlane collecting the $1000 for the longest drive.
Traralgon Golf Club hailed the two days as another successful event, which gave light to some of those rising in the professional ranks as well as local talent which competed with some of the best.
Chairman of the Pro-Am Committee at the Traralgon Golf Club, Andy Milbourne summed up the pro-am calling it “a great two days”.
“It’s been really successful, we’ve had a lot of people out watching and following the groups which is always good to see and we’ve seen some good, young up-and-coming talent out there on the course as well as far as the pros go,” he said.
“Day two, of course, the weather has made it certainly tougher, the greens have been running quick with a bit of wind and everything else combined, it’s certainly made the play very interesting out there for sure.”
Milbourne said the pros found the course to be “a good, challenging course”.
“Our curator, Nathan Arnett, he’s done a fantastic job with his crew to be able to get the course up to the standard that it is and it’s probably, I suppose I’m bias, it’s probably one of the best courses in the Gippsland area, so he’s done a great job there,” he said.
“We like to improve on it every year, so we go around and we talk to not only the pros but also the classic players and also the sponsors and just the club golfers who are playing out there, and just see how we can make the course better and make the clubhouse experience better form them as well.”
Previous to the opening of the pro-am, Traralgon Golf Club also held their annual junior Ambrose pro-am with nine professionals guiding 27 young, local golfers.
“This is our third year that we’ve done this and the pros love coming up for it,” Milbourne said.
“They just love giving tips to the kids and as a junior it was something I never had the opportunity to experience, so we’re trying to pass on that really good experience to the kids and they are relishing (in) the fact that they get to be up close and personal with these pros.
“We’re looking to try and expand that into the near future, so that will be something to look forward to.”
Lenny Batalha, Sonny Batalha, Johnny Foster and McFarlane were the winning group with a score of 27 off the stick finishing nine-under.
EARLIER in the week, the Community Bank Trafalgar & District Trafalgar Pro-Am took place on Wednesday, November 6 as the second stop of the Gippsland Swing a part of the PGA of Australia’s Adidas Pro-Am Series.
Ben Murphy claimed victory after a six-under 64 performance out at the Trafalgar Golf Club.
Murphy started positively with birdies at holes 10 and 12 and a birdie on the 16th, but then mellowed with seven consecutive pars.
Breaking the wayward streak with an eagle at the Par 5 sixth, he concluded with a birdie on the seventh, closing his round of 64 finishing one shot clear of Harrison Wills (65).
While this was Murphy’s first time at Trafalgar, he said it bowed well having to not overthink it, subsequently lauding the country course on what was a beautiful day topping 30 degrees.
“Perfect fairways, perfect greens, cool layout. (A) great golf course,” he said.
Travelling from Morning Peninsula, Murphy pocketed $2694 for his win and bogey-free effort.
A total of 53 professionals participated at Trafalgar alongside 107 amateur golfers.
Besides a momentary stoppage due to lighting in the afternoon, Trafalgar Golf Club Captain Peter Moss said the day ran smoothly.
“The day was a success for the Trafalgar Golf Club. Thanks to all of our wonderful sponsors and the volunteers who assisted leading up to the event and on the day,” he said.
“All of the professionals spoke highly of the course.”
PGA of Australia National Events Manager, Heath McLeod said the Gippsland Swing, which began its week in Sale before heading to Trafalgar, Traralgon and then Yarram, is an integral part of their community venture.
“Events like these (at Trafalgar) are great to get out into regional areas and promote the sport, promote professional sport, but promote the game as a whole,” McLeod said.
“It’s a good opportunity for local amateurs to come and mix it with the pros.
“It is the only sport where the amateurs get to play in the competition with the professionals.”
A fixture of games separated by morning and afternoon players offered professionals and local amateurs a chance to mingle, discuss their love for the game, tell stories both grand and small, and see the professionals give tips and advice.
“The pros are out there, I mean it is their day job, so they are out there and they’re competitive and trying to win against the other pros, but there’s a lot of interaction between the pros (and the amateurs),” McLeod said.
While it is a community event, the Trafalgar Pro-Am still carried a significant prize fund, meaning there was still a tense feeling among players in the midst of play.
Geelong professional Matt McFarlane was visibly frustrated with his finish during the morning session.
Winning does go a long way for these golfers, who don’t necessarily live the lifestyle one would expect as professional athletes, with the sport only taking up a fraction of their day-to-day lives, having to pay for travel and accommodation out of their own pocket.
To put it in perspective, a Trafalgar Golf Club official spoke about one professional using his campervan to travel from one event to another – who arrived the night prior to the pro-am and slept at the golf club.
An additional $600 was on offer for the Trafalgar Golf Club Shoot Out which followed the afternoon players in which all professionals on the day battled it out to see who could drive the furthest – taken out by Jake Hughes.
The amateur winners were: AM session A Grade: Scott McKinnon (42 points). AM B Grade: Paris Christian (37). PM A Grade: Anthony Moscato (40). PM B Grade: Glenn Doolan (36 point).
