Making the road trip from Perth to Kalgoorlie, Jarrod Lyle is excited to be in the Aussie outback for the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship.
The opportunity to play a tournament in one of the unique locations the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia visits was a big drawcard for Lyle.
“I haven’t played a lot of golf in WA during my career, so this was a good opportunity to come and do something different,” Lyle said. “To come to Kalgoorlie, a place I have never been to, a place I never knew if I would get to; having this tournament here and my being back in Australia at the same time too, is the reason I am here. I have never been in Australia when the WA PGA has been on and now I am not travelling, it’s nice to come to places like this, experience something new and play golf tournaments.”
Lyle still has vigour for the game, this next stage of his career, away from the US PGA Tour having renewed his passion for competing.
“I still love playing golf, now with my schedule being more limited than it used to be, I am actually turning up to tournaments excited to be playing,” Lyle said. “I spent last week playing a few pro-ams up around Perth and Geraldton. I was lucky enough to shoot a decent score and win one.”
Before checking out the town and the Super Pit Kalgoorlie is renowned for, Lyle was impressed with the back-nine holes of Kalgoorlie Golf Course.
“I really enjoyed it, standing on the 10th tee, you look down the fairway and you can see grass and red dirt. It’s visually very nice, very pretty to look at. So far I am really impressed with the golf course.”
It’s a course that is reminiscent of those he played in America, including the TPC Scottsdale which hosts the Waste Management Phoenix Open where Lyle famously recorded a hole-in-one on the par-3 16th stadium hole.
“It is very similar to Phoenix and that area; where it’s fairway, a little bit of rough and then just goes straight into desert and rocks,” Lyle said. “The good thing about over there and here is; if you do hit it off the fairway you are able to get it out of there and hit a decent shot. It’s not too punishing, unless you start hitting it way wide under the trees. It is a great golf course and I think I am going to really enjoy my time here,” added Lyle, who has never received a prize for any of his six career aces.
If he managed the feat this week there are a plethora of prizes on offer including a share of a million Qantas points, a gold nugget worth $50,000 and a Subaru Outback also valued at $50,000.
While he is starting to develop a feel for playing the Kalgoorlie layout, Lyle will finalise his gameplan for the WA PGA Championship after he plays in the pro-am on Wednesday.
“I was very impressed by what I saw on the back-nine; I’ll check out the other nine holes tomorrow in the pro-am and figure out a good game plan to run with,” Lyle said. “I think for this kind of golf course and what I have heard, the wind is going to play a big factor later in the week so I think tee shots are going to be very crucial around here, to get yourself into a position. The greens have a lot of slope and there are different areas that the flag can be placed so you need to get your tee shots into good areas to set up angles into flags.
“It’s nice to come to a golf tournament and be excited about playing and not knowing what the outcome is going to be. It’s a different ball game to what I am used to.”
The TX Civil & Logistis WA PGA Championship will be played from May 18-21 at Kalgoorlie Golf Course with the field vying for a prize purse of $110,000. The winner will receive Official World Golf Ranking Points and become fully exempt on to the PGA Tour of Australasia until the end of the 2018 season.
For tee-times and live scores from Thursday, visit pga.org.au.
