By Patrick Gillett
LAST Thursday’s charity Pro Am at Glenview delivered a different look to the usual par-3 circuit, pairing golfers with intellectual disabilities alongside PGA professionals on a layout described as more “proper golf” than the typical pitch-and-putt style course.
Golf Programs Australia founder and president, Darrell Dalton, said the course had been transformed in recent months, with ground staff putting in six months of work to lift presentation ahead of the event.
“The course is in fantastic shape for a little par three,” Dalton said. “You couldn’t recognise the course from six months ago to what it is today. Wade Hooper and the ground staff and all their staff have just done a wonderful job in preparing the course. The greens, the fairways are just beautiful.”
PGA state manager for Queensland and the Northern Territory, Broc Greenhalgh, said the Glenview team not only met PGA expectations but exceeded them, calling the venue “a real golfers golf course”.
“The PGA plays numerous par 3 tournaments around Australia, but this one’s quite unique,” he said. “Normally we play them in quite of a pitch and put type atmosphere. But on every single hole here, you’ve got an entirely full shot.”
Greenhalgh said the tougher set-up helped explain why scoring was higher than some may have anticipated.
“A par three golf course is tough,” he said. “It’s not very easy to shoot low numbers when you’ve always got a mid to high iron in your hand. So the score’s being a little higher is not a big surprise.The golf course isn’t easy here at Glenview.” Beyond the scoreboard, organisers said the day was about inclusion, connection and giving players the chance to compete alongside professionals in a quality tournament setting.