Newsmaker of the month: Daniel Beckmann
When Daniel Beckmann teed it up in the returning Portsea Pro-Am at Portsea Golf Club on January 3, his goal was to win the lion’s share of the $50,000 in prizemoney.
That goal was ultimately realised by fellow Victorian Peter Wilson, who pocketed $8,987.50 for his latest win on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series. Beckmann, however, would walk away from Portsea as the big winner.
With a perfectly struck 6-iron into a two-club wind at the 164-metre, par-3 seventh, Beckmann made a hole-in-one – his first in a professional tournament – that would yield a $100,000 reward.
Betr, the betting partner of the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, was behind the ace incentive that has the potential to transform Beckmann’s career.
An amateur so talented that he beat Kiwi Ryan Fox on his way to the 2009 Australian Amateur final, Beckmann’s career trajectory was interrupted by a two-year stint in hospital battling cancer. He is now in his fourth year of remission and with an unexpectedly inflated bank balance that will allow him to chase opportunities both at home and abroad.
“I had no idea there was even a prize when I hit the shot. I had no idea there was anything up for grabs,” a stunned Beckmann said post-round.
“Playing out here, all you really think about is, How am I going to fund my next event or my next three events. How am I going to fly to this event? How much is my hire car going to cost? You think about that stuff every day, so this will make all of that a lot easier to deal with.”
Remarkably, it was one of three holes-in-one recorded across the two days, although Michael Wright and David Micheluzzi were not rewarded in the same manner.
Headliners
Hayden Hopewell: Topped Stage C and was one of five Aussies to advance to the final stage of Asian Tour Qualifying School in Thailand.
Gabi Ruffels and Kirsten Rudgeley: The pair secured status on the 2023 Ladies European Tour with top-10 finishes at the final qualifying school in Spain, Ruffels finishing eighth and Rudgeley in a tie for ninth.
Matt Millar: Further asserted his status as the Blitz Golf king with his fifth career win at the 2023 National Final at North Adelaide Golf Course.
Andrew Evans and Dylan Perry: Regulars in Japan in recent years, Evans and Perry both ensured they retained status on the Japan Golf Tour in 2023 by finishing 18th and 19th, respectively, at the qualifying tournament.
Nick Flanagan: Put retirement on hold after edging good mate Scott Arnold at the first playoff hole to win the inaugural Cathedral Invitational at Cathedral Lodge & Golf Club, pocketing the $100,000 winner’s prize.
Cam Davis: Posted a four-under 67 in the final round at Peninsula Kingswood to complete a wire-to-wire win at the second iteration of the Sandbelt Invitational in Melbourne, edging Kiwi Momoka Kobori by a shot.
Jason Norris: Claimed the Living Choices Australian Legends Tour Championship at Headland Golf Club, the final event of the 2022 SParms PGA Legends Tour.
Andre Stolz: Made it back-to-back SParms PGA Legends Tour Order of Merit wins, finishing almost $30,000 clear of Peter Senior with total prizemoney of $82,488.
Daniel Gale: Completed a resounding five-stroke win at the NSW Regional Open Series–South Coast Open at Mollymook Golf Club’s Hilltop course.
Erin Delpizzo and David Baker: Will represent Australia at the International Play 9 Final at Royal Liverpool in July after winning the national final at Kingston Heath.
He did what?
Finishing 29th in a field of 39 would not ordinarily be a significant moment in the career of Adam Scott. Yet in the first of the PGA Tour’s new “designated” events with significantly higher prizemoney, that was all Scott needed to collect $US210,000 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and pass $US60 million in career earnings. He joins Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh and Rory McIlroy as the only players to reach that figure.
