Wow, its been a while since the Project has been updated, must have been busy or lazy, maybe both.
Since the Battle at RA (that's what we call it now) with Disco, we have played the remaining events of the year in sunny Queensland, fuck its been hot, steamy and humid, so so shit.
I was hovering around the late 40's in the OOM, I picked up the new Tour Bus and off we ventured to Cairns and Townsville. The Shooter started to have a nice little run up there with an 8th in Cairns, 19th at Rowes Bay and an 8th in Townsville before heading back to finish 13th at Meadowbrook and 17th at Mt Warren Park, nice little run for the Order of Merit and a little boost up the rankings. Our last Tournament of that run was September 17 and we had no more until The Gold Coast Senior PGA on December 2 and 3.
In that break the NSW events were played the OOM looked more and more depressing, I had to stay in the top 60 for this last year. After that I no longer need to qualify each year. Its been stressful.
December comes around, Shooter has been playing with better players, grinding it out with the big guys of the tour, fine tuning his game.
Lakelands is saturated, practice round on Wednesday and it pissed rain all day, cant see how we will be playing tomorrow.
Thursday arrives and you wouldn't know the place, the rain has been replaced with humidity so fucking thick you can see it. Shotgun Start, away we go. The golf course is remarkable given the rain yesterday and The Shooter shoots an impressive 69 (-3) to be inside the top 5 with a round to go. The leader has shot -7 day one. Now that is a good score.
Day 2 comes, media done, time to clip a few on the range before heading out.
Shooter stumps it on the first hole of the day to 6 inches, this could be a good day, before you know it we are 4 under with 2 to play, flushing the driver, holing a couple.
Shooter then hits a smother pull with the driver into the piss.
Drop Zone, 3 iron, gap wedge, hole the putt for 5, back to -3 for the day.
Last hole is a par 5, Shooter has 236 meters home, just fucking pured a 3 wood to 15 feet and 2 putts for a career defining -7 for the tournament. Now we are getting somewhere.
T2 for the tournament and perhaps the biggest deal since the Q School win.
Nice little cheque at Noosa and a rallying move up the board on day 2 at the Qld Senior PGA at Maroochy River was a nice surprise to now be sitting 30th on the OOM with a couple of events to go.
Sunshine Coast Masters is always a good event but to date I have never gone well, that fucking shits about to change.
Played great on day 1 to have 6 birdies and a couple of bogies for a tournament leading -4, 68, best round at Twin for sometime let alone in an event.
Day 2 didn't pan out well and the round went sideways in the middle, very disappointed but picked up some petrol money to get home.
Last event of the year, packed up the tour bus and headed to Casino in NSW, Covid tests not required, only an entry pass to get home.
Played Sanctuary on the way down and got there in time for the sponsors dinner, a grand affair it was with 3 dinner options and 3 desert options, how fancy.
Its a hot, desolate wilderness, the word around is the greens are hard and bouncy.
Start on 11 and it takes 20 minutes to get out there to a 260 metre hard dog leg right. No fucking idea how to play this hole, hit 3 wood and pitched it on to a foot, -1.
Fuck me Shoot, genius never sleeps. Just another event, just another under par start.
12th, short 130 meter par 3 downhill, get it in the right trap, make double, fuck this joint. I am sure I saw a tumbleweed. The bomb will go off shortly.
13th, straight away par 4, uphill, stripe it in the fairway, gap wedge it to 8 feet, hole it. Birdie, double, birdie. I'm back.
14th, par 5, flush the driver, hit a hosel rocket with a fucking 3 wood into the thickest part of the trees I could find, chunk it out of there up behind a bush near the green, play a exquisite pitch that runs off the fucking green down into the cabbage, flub a chip, half flub the next one, the temperature has risen 10 degrees in the last 5 minutes.
Now I have had 6 and am looking down the barrel of a fucking triple, fuck me. Concentrate Shoot, lets just hole this and get off the fucking hole.
Whack, whack, whack, whack. Fucking 10.
Very quiet walking to the next tee, I can however hear the temperature release valve blow off the top of my fucking head, I have a quick look at my arms and legs to see if I'm bleeding, the course has just injured me. For fucks sake, 10, Jesus Christ.
Flush the driver off the next, straight into the large gum tree 60 yards off the tee, dead as a fucking maggot. Now I am just trying to make 5, hit the next fucking tree on the way out, finally pitch it out to the fairway, 4th shot short, chip it on and hole it for a double. Fuck me, this has gone downhill fast.
After another bogey on 16, I decided its a day to spend with the amateurs and make sure they have a good time, I'm sure they don't want to see a tour pro of this calibre get beaten up by the golf course.
So the year ends with a bang, and by a bang I mean the slamming of the door after I have hoisted the clubs in from 10 yards into the tour bus.
The final wash up is 29 on the OOM and a last tournament round to forget.
There have been lots of good bits as well, I get to think about the long drive home, I hope KFC is open.
Shades of brilliance Shooter out.