LOCAL golf star Graeme Cheshire has again proven he can match it with the best as the 2012 PGA Legends Tour swung into action last week.
Competing in three tournaments in Sydney, Cheshire figured among the money winners in two, including the two-day $20,000 Bing Lee/Samsung NSW/ACT Legends Championships at the Oatlands Club.
And while he was reasonably happy with his results, Cheshire was ruing poor final holes in all four rounds which cost him a higher placing and more prizemoney.
Beginning with the Bayview Pro-Am last Tuesday, Cheshire fired a two-over 72 to finish in 11th place, three shots behind winner and former
touring professional and 1988 Australian PGA Champion Mike Harwood.
Cheshire double bogeyed his final hole, a par four, and had he been able to manage par he would have finished in a tie for second with another former Australian star Rodger Davis.
Davis, who boasts the 1986 Australian Open among his career
victories, maintained his form to blitz the field with a five-under 63 in last Wednesday’s Rosnay Pro Am, with Cheshire shooting a three-over 71 to finish in a tie for 27th and just miss a cheque.
Knowing too well that golf can be a gave of ifs and buts, Cheshire did reveal that had he not doubled the first and bogeyed the last he would have tied for seventh.
The NSW/ACT Championships was the first major event for the new season, with a field of close to 70
players lining up.
Cheshire opened with a disappointing 75, however leapt up the leaderboard with a one-over 71 on day two to finish 19th.
Harwood was again the man to beat, with rounds of 67 and 66 seeing him finish a seven under and a two-shot winner over Garry Merrick.
Again Cheshire’s final hole (not necessarily the 18th as it was a shotgun start), proved costly as he double bogeyed it on both days, the extra four shots against par costing him a top 15 finish.
Cheshire admits he needs to work harder on his putting as the greens for most Legends events are far slicker than what he’s used to, while he also needs to practice his long irons and rescue clubs in order to reach some of the extremely long par-4s in two.
Among his highlights last week was a long range bomb on the 11th hole at Oatlands, Cheshire walking 33 steps (or close to 30 metres) to pluck the ball from the hole.
By contrast there was another green in which he finished just three feet above the cup yet literally had no chance of holing it.
Next month the tour swings to New Zealand, however Cheshire remains uncertain whether he will travel across the ditch to compete.
In his first season on tour last year Cheshire played in 20 events and
finished 31st in the Order or Merit (out of 177 players), with only four players above him on the list playing less
number of tournaments.
His start to 2012 currently sees him in 20th.
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