Victorian PGA Championship Pro-am - Heritage (St John) (57)

Saw an article on the Australian PGA website that the 2014 Victorian PGA Championship was to be played as a pro-am event for the first two days.  Fired off an email and was pleased that they still had places.  The event was to be played at the Heritage Golf and Country Club in the Yarra Valley outside Melbourne.

Heritage Clubhouse

The Heritage features two course, the St John course a Jack Nicklaus design on which the event was to be played, and the Henley a Tony Cashmore design.  Have played both courses previously but this was a fantastic opportunity to play it set up for tournament conditions.

Local wildlife on 18th before play

So, entry accepted I eagerly awaited the draw to see who I would be partnered with.  In the end it was a 8:39 tee off on the first hole with partners Leighton Lyle, Edward Stedman and Blake Proverbs.  Leighton and Ed are touring professionals and Blake is a young amateur from Queensland who had just finished playing in the Australian Amateur event in Adelaide and had received an invitation to the tournament.  Other notable amateurs playing included Brendon Goddard the Essendon football star and handy golfer playing off scratch.

11th hole, 165m par 3

The amateurs in the pro-am event played a stableford event off the Gold tees for the day which is the second set of tees on the St John.  Still a tough test having a slope rating of 134 under the new Australian rating system.

Must admit to a few nerves on the first tee, and a topped 3 iron to the left rough didn't help.  Managed to get back on the fairway and recover for a bogey 5 and 2 points.  The day's scoring for me didn't improve much from there, although my claim to fame will be being closest to the hole on the par 3 third hole and a solid 8 iron to 15 feet on the 17th (my playing partners all inside that).

Heritage St John, 1st tee 324m par 4 (Gold tee)

A fantastic experience, great company on a top course in tournament conditions.  I'm pleased to say that I didn't put my partners off too much, they all managed to shoot even par 72 and went on to make the cut for the weekend.

View back from 18th tee, over 12th hole 464m par 5

18th hole, 440m par 4

Auto Club Golf Championship - Box Hill Golf Club ( - )

Entered a regional event in the 2014 Auto Club Golf Championship at Box Hill Golf Club.  The event was originally planned for January but was postponed due to hot weather when a heatwave came through Melbourne.

Box Hill Golf Clubhouse

Box Hill Golf Club has a long history in Melbourne and traces its origins back to the 1890's.  A more traditional suburban course it benefits from Gardiner's Creek running through the course and being a feature on numerous holes.  Despite the summer heat the course was in fantastic condition with lush fairways and greens.  The course is tight demanding accurate tee shots that will leave you in good position on the fairway.

15th hole, 336m par 4

The event was a aggregate pairs stableford competition this year, and I let my partner down with only 24 points.  This was my first competition round for some months and it showed although I managed to hit 4 out of the 5 par 3's.

16th tee, 330m par 4

The winners on the day had a day out scoring a combined 92 points (48 + 44).

The Auto Club Golf Championship is a good day out, well organised and will look forward to entering again next year.

17th hole, 133m par 3

Jim Stynes Memorial Golf Classic at Huntingdale GC

A sponsor invite to a charity golf day is always a nice day to spend a day at the office, and even better to be raising money for the Reach Foundation and to play again at such a wonderful course as Huntingdale Golf Club.

First time playing a modified ambrose called "Gentsomes" where everyone drives, best tee shot is chosen, and everyone plays individual stableford from there.  Best two scores on each hole then go to the team score.  It seems to speed up the play a bit which is good, and you still get to feel like you have played a full round.

A bit of inclement weather on the day didn't bother us and although we couldn't match the pace of the winners with 108 pts, we had a great day.

Dinner was excellent as was the entertainment from speed painter Brad Blaze.  See his work here .

Completion of Golf Program at Kieser Training

For those who read my earlier post, I was fortunate enough to win a 12 week golf program at Kieser Training as a raffle prize at their golf day earlier in the year.

Well today was the final session on the Lumbar Extension machine and to compare the strength test results.  I was pleased to see a 26% overall increase in strength in my back and better control in range that did not drop off as much from initial test.

Comparison showing improvement

This was good, particularly as I had a couple of weeks of missed training in the middle due to illness and travel for work.


Final compared to average

So, my regular Kieser sessions now continue.  Last thing to do is my golf swing analysis with Stuart Leong, coach at Albert Park Driving Range Golf Academy...stay tuned for how this goes.

First Lumbar Extension Test

The golf programme at Kieser Training includes the use of a Lumbar Extension machine under supervision of one of the physios.

It looks a bit daunting at first but after being strapped in so that your pelvis cannot move a series of tests are performed to measure the back strength at various points as you bend forward and back.

Beginning compared to average

My results showed average results when bent over but as I straightened up the results were below average indicating a weakness at this level.  I'm hoping that after the golf programme finishes we will see at the final test an improvement here.