Boorowa team wins World Sand Greens Championship Pro-Am

A Boorowa-linked team has taken out the Pro-Am ahead of the World Sand Greens Championship at Binalong, in a event that went on to crown West Australian Scott Barr as world champion in stunning fashion. The Community Bank Boorowa-sponsored team of professional James Grierson, Wendy Tuckerman, Felicity Corcoran and Tom Corcoran won Friday's Pro-Am, played in a nine o'clock shotgun start ahead of the weekend's championship rounds. Tuckerman, the state MP for Goulburn, played alongside the Corcorans in the four-ball. Eight Boorowa Golf Club members took part in the Pro-Am overall: Adam Dewar, Chris Grimson, Kelvin Gorham, Graham Jones, Felicity Corcoran, Tom Corcoran, Pete Sykes and Di Sykes. A second Boorowa group, sponsored alongside the winning team by Community Bank Boorowa, saw Pete Sykes, Di Sykes and Graham Jones play with professional Blake Phillips. Grierson recognised his own tie to the town as soon as he saw the group's Boorowa Golf Club shirts. His grandmother, Marcia Simmons, is from Boorowa, and her sister, Thora Regan, is his great aunt. "I knew once I saw the Boorowa Golf Club shirts they would know the family," Grierson said. None of Boorowa's players competed in the championship itself, which requires a GA handicap of 4.4 or below to enter. The championship went on to produce one of the most remarkable finishes in the event's short history. West Australian Scott Barr, 54, shot a course-record 10-under-par 60 in the final round on Sunday to win by three shots, finishing at 16-under for the 36-hole event. His round included a hole-out chip from just short of the green for a winning birdie on the 18th, after he lost his rangefinder mid-hole. It was Barr's first win on the PGA Tour of Australasia. Pete Sykes, who played with his wife, Di, Graham Jones and professional Blake Phillips, said he was invited along as a foundation board member of Community Bank Boorowa. He said the format suited a group of high handicappers, with only the two best scores in each group counting. "All you've got to do is have someone to do the big drives, and then even us can chip onto the green and putt," Sykes said. He described the course as "absolutely impeccable" and the professionals as "fantastic". Di has been playing golf for less than a year. Group-mate Graham Jones said playing in the Pro-Am was "bloody awesome."