He may only play on the Legends circuit when the weather suits, but when Queenslander Tod Power does play, he plays to win.
Power and Victorian Tim Elliott shared the spoils at The Village Yeronga Brisbane Legends Pro-Am at The Brisbane Golf Club this week, both shooting rounds of one under-par 71. They won from a group of four – Greg Carroll, Hugh Dolan, Martin Pettigrew and Shaquill Mongol – at one over. Forty-three players, including last year’s winner Peter Woodward and current Order of Merit leader Brad Burns, were in the field.
The Ladbrokes PGA Legends Tour is a golf circuit for male professionals aged 50-plus, is managed by the PGA of Australia and consists of just on 60 tournaments throughout Australia and New Zealand offering more than $1 million in prizemoney.Players who regularly feature on the tour include former US PGA Champion Wayne Grady, Rodger Davis, Peter Fowler, Michael Harwood, Michael Clayton and Peter Senior.
But for Power, who as a young gun won the Queensland Close Championship at 17, the weather dictates when he can play.
He is the ‘course superintendent with a staff of one’ at Tallai Golf Club in the Gold Coast hinterland and that job – at the ‘tricky little nine-hole course’ – not his golf, takes priority.
“Because the course obviously needs consistent upkeep, it is impossible for me to play at the start of the year when the weather is hot,” he said.
“Usually I am available for July and August, and if I’m lucky I can play a dozen or so tournaments in that time. So far this year I have managed to play 12 events and missed the top 10 three times.”
And while he enjoys the golf, the reunion with many golfing buddies from the past and likes to keep his competitive juices flowing, he also plays to win.“I reckon we all like to be competitive in our chosen sport, even if age is creeping up,” said the 54-year-old whose golf in recent years has been curtailed because of a back complaint.
“I played very consistent golf at Brisbane with 17 pars and a birdie, and was pleased with my form. But to be honest, I didn’t think one-under would win.”
Power described BGC as in super condition, and ‘pretty tough’. And he commented that although the Champion greens were true, they were very fast and required caution and plenty of nerve.
A past winner of theAustralian Legends Tour Championship in 2015, Power is also a past winner of the 2017 BMD/Barton Queensland Senior PGA Championship and the Queensland PGA Championship, in 1995. Along with Bryan Smith and Ossie Moore, he is the only player to have won the Queensland PGA double.
And he says he had the pleasure on Monday of playing alongside a talent from TBGC who may also go on to achieve major recognition in the game. She was 19-year-old Lisa Edgar who recently won The Brisbane Golf Club’s 2018 Ladies Club Championship by a massive 27 shots, at her first attempt.
Power described Lisa as ‘very, very good’, with a great nature, impeccable manners and a nice swing.
Tim Elliott starts brilliantly with three birdies on the opening nine, but two bogeys on the back nine haltered his round but he hung on to share the prizemoney. It was his first win on the Queensland section of the tour this year.
And, like Power, he was high in his praise of the BGC course.
“The course was in fantastic condition and presented beautifully. It was a pleasure to play and credit must go to all the staff of The Brisbane Golf Club,” he said. – TONY DURKIN
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