Weldon wins at Beerwah
Queenslander Nigel Weldon has put his three-stroke win at the Elgin Valley Beerwah Legends Pro-Am win among his greatest achievements in golf.
The 51-year-old joined the PGA Legends Tour this year after coming through both stages of Qualifying School and is proving to be something of a multi-round specialist.
His breakthrough win came at the 36-hole Moree Legends Pro-Am in September and he has had three top-10 finishes at two-round events since October.
But over two days at Beerwah Golf Club on the Sunshine Coast Weldon had to line up alongside the likes of PGA TOUR Champions member David Bransdon, Australian golf legends Peter Senior and Terry Price and prolific Legends Tour winners Brad Burns and Adam Henwood.
It’s why this latest win was one to savour.
“It’s very inspiring,” Weldon said of the company he is now keeping.
“These guys that I’ve watched and followed their careers in my life and then finally be out here playing with them against them, and then to finish on top against that sort of a field, it’s a special feeling for me.
“It’s up there with my biggest achievements in this sport.”
Weldon trailed Scotsman Dell Bain by two strokes heading into Round 2 but compiled a superb 5-under 67 for a 9-under total, three clear of Nigel Lane (68) with six players sharing third.
HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED
Trailing by two at the start of the day, Weldon leant into that patient mindset from the outset.
Four pars to start kept him in contention before back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13 elevated him up the leaderboard.
A third birdie followed at 17 but he gave that back almost immediately with a dropped shot on 18.
There was no sign of panic, however, as Weldon picked off birdies at three, five and seven to put some distance between himself and the rest of the field.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“It’s not just like a one day shootout. You’ve got two days,” said Weldon.
“You can be a little bit patient the first day. You don’t have to come out and fire at everything.
“You can get yourself in the mix and then know what you’ve got to do the next day.
“I do like the multi-round events more than the single round events.
“I’ve been struggling a little bit with my putting of late. I’ve been working hard on it and my short game, chipping, 100-in that sort of stuff. I identified that that was letting me down and the boys are doing it a lot better than I in that department.
“It did click today and great greens, great course and the putts went in. That was the biggest difference.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1 Nigel Weldon 68-67—135
2 Nigel Lane 70-68—138
T3 Tim Elliott 68-72—140
T3 Perry Parker 70-70—140
T3 David Bransdon 68-72—140
T3 Euan Walters 70-70—140
T3 David Diaz 67-73—140
T3 Dell Bain 66-74—140
Amateur Results:
DAY 1
1st – Beerwah Hotel
Brendan Chant
Kerry Roband
Tim De Cuca
James Toole
92 Points
2nd – Beerwah Tyres
David Diaz
Sean Daines
Tim Pitt
Alf Harvey
90 Points c/c
3rd – Landsborough Hotel
Chris Hollingsworth
Mick Pullinger
Greg Seabourne
Mark Higgins
90 Points
NTPs:
2nd – Lea Doyle
5th – Sean Daines
16th – Tony Richards
18th – Michael Graham
DAY 2
1st – Pumphouse
Nigel Weldon
Adam Richards
Mark Horsfield
Greg Kiemann
88 Points
2nd
Grant Kenny
Vic Johnson
Rod Layt
Jim Farraway
87 Points
3rd – E-Z-GO
Guy Wall
Jacques Vorster
Charles Monthe
Reiner Roos
86 Points c/b