Nick played in the Northern Territory PGA Championship between the 16th and 19th August 2018.

The inaugural event was held at Palmerston Golf Course, Palmerston, Northern Territory, Australia in August 2016. It is a Tier 2 event on the PGA Tour of Australasia.

Nick finished in a tie for 40th on 2 under. The tournament was won by Australian, Daniel Nisbet who finished on 19 under.

In Nick’s words…

Darwin was a pleasant suprise. The PGA of Australasia had sent out an email warning us about the condition of the Palmerston Golf Course after it had been extensively damaged by Cyclone Marcus in March 2018. After speaking with some of my fellow competitiors, they all agreed that the course was fair and playable. Some of the greens were damaged and an estimated 500 trees had been removed but the course was better than we had all expected.

I didn’t play all that great. It is imperative at the Palmerston Golf Course to find fairways as the course is tight and lined with trees and wasteland. Unfortunately for me, I was fighting a few things in my golf swing and spent a bit too much time in the dirt! A few of my normal tendencies came out and as a result I didn’t give myself enough opportunites at a straight forward shot into the green – I had lots of practice hitting high hooks and low cuts into greens though!

There is one shot that I will remember for a while though – a high hook 60 degree wedge over some trees and onto the green from a concrete collection area within a hazard with the ball 2 feet below my feet. That was fun and a little lucky 🍀 😊. My round turned into a highlight reel of “how did I just make par?” I was proud of the amount of the grit that I showed out there and let’s just say that my one under par finish in the final round was one of my more efficient rounds of the year.

I’ve got a nice week off here in Auckland before heading up to Asia for an exciting month of golf. I’ve been fortunate enough to get two starts on the PGA Tour of China followed by two starts on the Asian Tour in Korea and Japan. There is lots of good golf ahead and plenty more learning opportunities!

Fairways and Greens.