Gareth Paddison will look to retain his Coca-Cola Queensland PGA Championship title only a week after he claimed the Adroit Insurance Group Victorian PGA Championship.
Paddison, who claimed the 2011 title by two shots over Terry Pilkadaris and Kieran Pratt, will tee off his title defence tomorrow at 11.30am playing alongside 2004 Queensland PGA Champion Kurt Barnes and 2011 NSW Open Champion Adam Crawford.
Last week’s victory at Forest Resort Creswick was Paddison’s fourth PGA Tour of Australasia title, his other victories coming at the 2002 Scenic Circle Hotels Golf Classic, the 2004 Victorian Open and last year’s Queensland PGA Championship.
Tarquin MacManus leads pre-qualifiers
2011 Master of the Amateurs Champion Tarquin MacManus finished top of the field of this week’s pre-qualifying event at Toowoomba Golf Course - Middle Ridge, to gain a spot in his second PGA Tour of Australasia tournament.
MacManus, who last year completed his study at University of Arizona, played his first professional event at the Victorian Open earlier this year where he unfortunately missed the cut at Spring Valley.
Professionals on parade
With pre-event festivities already underway at City Golf Club Toowoomba, three of the PGA Tour of Australasia’s young talents today tried a new career path modelling in a fashion parade presented by Fayde and Smoke & Mirrors.
Michael Foster, Paul Spargo and Stephen Dartnall all walked the catwalk this morning at the Golf Club, the event part of a week long program of community engagement activities.
Of other community activities children at Toowoomba Hospital will tomorrow receive a visit from professionals Terry Pilkadaris, Chris Campbell, Adam Bland and Aaron Townsend, while community barbeques, junior clinics and outdoor screenings of ‘Happy Gilmore’ will continue over the next few days.
Thanks to our sponsors
With arguably the best field in recent years, the PGA would like to thank its tournament sponsors for their generous involvement with this week’s Coca-Cola Queensland PGA Championship.
In addition to naming sponsor Coca-Cola, QLD PGA Executive Officer Broc Greenhalgh says there are a number of of people, sponsors and organisations who have all contributed towards the staging of such a great event.
“I would like to thank all our tournament sponsors this week including Coca-Cola, Geiger, Fayde and also Toowoomba Regional Council. Without their generous support we would not be able to stage such a key event on the Toowoomba sporting calendar nor deliver some of the community events that have been scheduled throughout the week,” said Greenhalgh.
Play will get underway at City Golf Club Toowoomba from 6.30am tomorrow, Thursday morning.