A day just being Dad has helped Port Kembla-based professional Lincoln Tighe to a dominant opening round 65 and a two shot lead in the NSW Open Pre-Qualifying Tournament at South West Rocks.
Tighe (-7) leads by a stroke from the evergreen Matt Millar (-6), with a brace of players including Josh Clarke, Blaike Perkins, Toby Walker, and former NSW Open Champion Aaron Towsend at minus four.
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On a course that Tighe quipped he couldn’t really remember much about “because the last time I played here was 17 years ago,” the Big Bomber put on a dominant display blasting his way around the tight, tree-lined layout.
Off to a relatively quiet opening, Tighe kickstarted his round with a birdie on the short par-three 4th. He then added birdies on the 8th and 9th to turn in just 32 strokes.
Having found the front to his liking, Tighe stepped up a gear on the back nine with another brace of birds, this time from the 11 to the 13th, to get to minus seven and, at that stage, to a handy three-shot buffer over his nearest rival, his playing partner Matt Millar.
Tighe’s only error of the day came at the 385-metre par four 15th, but he erased the error with a stylish birdie on the last to set the clubhouse lead.
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“The last time I came here was 17 years ago, and I played a Jack Newton event, so I couldn’t really remember it. I remembered a couple of holes, but yeah, there’s really nowhere to hide, and it doesn’t let up,” a delighted Tighe said post-round.
Tighe added that a tune-up with his coach, Warwick Dews, through the week and spent a day babysitting his 14-week-old son, Boston, on Thursday proved pivotal to his fine opening round.
“I had a tune-up with Warwick Jews, my coach, on Wednesday. We worked on a couple of things, and they clicked pretty good.”
I looked after my son on Thursday, and I came and played the pro-am yesterday.
“I was a little underdone, bbut as I get a b it older, I’m learning to be a bit smarter and managing it all a bit better.”
A victory this weekend for Tighe would be a welcome addition to his resume and, importantly, would secure his place in this year’s NSW Open, a tournament he readily admits is one he regards with the highest esteem.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to win,” Tighe added.
“Golf NSW was a big part of my junior and amateur golf, and I always want to play well when Golf NSW puts its name to something.”
Several players made promising starts, but one by one, all managed to give any advantage they had back on the tricky tree-lined course.
Aaron Townsend, who claimed the 2008 NSW Open, was quietly happy with his day’s effort in his usual understated way.
“Four under 68, I played alright. I’ll take it.”
Townsend was delighted with the condition of the course, especially the small but trusting putting surfaces.
“The greens are tricky here, hard to get up and down, I think most of the field would say that.”
” A couple of the holes have played a bit short. 17 at 285 metres is driveable for the longer guys, so you can see why they are having a go at it.” Townsend added.
Victorian Toby Walker, tied at minus-four alongside Townsend, was also happy with his effort.
“I holed a lot of goof six-footers to keep it going,” he said.
Walker, who grabbed a spot in the 2022 NSW Open via the regional Qualifying series (at Murray Downs), said securing a place in the field this year was vital.
“I got through as an amateur in 2022, and played pretty well at Murray Downs. It’s a good course, I like it, and I’d love to get back there.”
