[ VIEWPOINT ] TOUR TALES & TRUE

Grant Dodd
the putt with sheer dread. Any contact and it was back on the 16th fairway. Miraculously, before I had taken my stance, the ball began to oscillate, and then roll. Trickling, meandering, resisting spike marks and indentations, it ran directly towards the hole, taking a slight turn to the left before hesitating in an old pitch mark, 18 inches from the cup. I rushed to mark the ball, and threw my hands up in despair. The rules officials then called a halt to play. A TV crew arrived for an interview, which I gave, in something of a daze. After a four-hour delay in play, I returned to the scene of the crime to tap in for an unlikely bogey 4. The Australian PGA Championship has seen its share of drama over the years. From the against-theodds triumph of Mike Harwood over a rampant Greg Norman in 1986 to the infamous tie in 2002 between Peter Lonard and Jarrod Moseley, it has been an event that at times has delivered controversy and spectacle in equal parts. After a nomadic existence for most of its life, the tournament has seemingly found its home at Hyatt Regency Coolum, a venue with a long history of hosting tour events. Anyone who was a member of the tour through the 1980s and 90s will have fond memories of the gregarious days of the Coolum Classic pro-am, the traditional closer to the Australian season. With resort and golf course side by side, the social inclinations of such a format were well catered to. Despite the PGA Championship having more serious ambitions than its predecessor, the influence of the past has dictated that, by pro golf standards, an uncustomary sense of relaxation and community has continued at recent events on Queenslands Sunshine Coast. As a result, there has been some debate as to whether the cultivation of such an atmosphere is in keeping with the goals and aspirations of one of this countrys marquee tournaments. It is, of course, merely attempting to find fault where little is in evidence. It may play to the beat of a slightly different drum, but the quality of the event in recent years is in no small part due to the simple fact that players enjoy being there. In a golf world where the secret to commercial success becomes more elusive with each passing year, it is a formula the PGA knows it can only ignore to its peril.

PGA Championship hits and memories

The Australian PGA Championship has found a permanent home at Hyatt Coolum for the past decade.

To ask Grant a question, e-mail us at golfdig@ newsmagazines.com.au

It probably would have been amusing had I not been the subject of the joke. But at the time, with a semihurricane whipping across the exposed 17th green of New South Wales Golf Club and my golf ball galloping down its right bank towards the 16th fairway, mirth was the last reaction to come to mind. Through the course of 10 Australian PGA Championships I competed in, 1996 was certainly the most memorable. While attempting to replace my ball on the 17th green for a par-saving putt during round two, I came to the conclusion that it just wasnt going to stay in one place. The gusting wind kept blowing the ball away from the marker, and in my mind the green had become unplayable. The rules official I called to adjudicate on the matter didnt agree. During a lull in the wind, the ball came to rest momentarily. Satisfied, he called the ball in play. A second or two later it was off, gradually gathering speed before careening off the edge of the elevated green, coming to rest nearly 50 metres away near a group about to play their second shots to the 16th green. Furious, I called for another ruling. The official informed me that as the ball had been stationary at one point, I had to play it where it now lay. My next shot somehow ended up 20 feet above the hole, hanging on for grim death to what seemed like the only blade of grass capable of keeping it from being blown off the green again by the now ferocious gale. Like a man on his way to the guillotine, I approached

52

/ november 2011