Hawke's Bay professional Doug Holloway hasn't lost his appetite for big-time golf.
While the 26-year-old shared the honours for the Electrinet Poverty Bay Pro-Am yesterday with Aucklander Scott Hill, the player from Te Pohue was delighted to be back on track in the New Zealand circuit for the season.
His four-under-par round of 68 with Hill, which yielded about $1600, will no doubt go down as an appetiser to whet his appetite for a lucrative year overseas.
"I'd like to go to a tour school again but you need a hell of a lot of money to do that," Holloway told SportToday last night from Gisborne after finishing five strokes behind champion John Bae at the Hastings Golf Club during last Friday's Chrysler Hastings Pro-am.
"You need $20,000 from start to finish [of a qualifying school," said Holloway, who is keen to head back to Scotland and Europe again this year after missing on a tour card by five strokes last year.
"Europe is where I think I'm better suited to play," he said, after two unsuccessful attempts in the United States.
In three weeks he will jet off for the elusive Papua New Guinea Open. He finished runner-up and fourth at the tournament in his two previous visits.
Because he will ply his trade mainly in Australia, Holloway said he would like to make a charge for the New Zealand order of merit but would settle for a top-four placing, considering he won't be playing enough in the country to make a fist of things.
In yesterday's pro-am, Holloway had a sizzling start as he rattled off birdies in the first three holes before nailing two more on Nos 7 and 10 for five-under par score.
A bogey, however, on No 14 saw him sign his card for 68.
"It was my first win since last year so it's good to have that under the belt."
He said he was disappointed not to clinch the Hastings pro-am but was gracious in acknowledging that South-Korean-born Bae, of Christchurch, played exceptionally well.
Lamenting going off the boil in his last six holes on Friday, Holloway said: "I was extremely disappointed with that bogey on the last hole because if I had done one better I would have been second equal [with rookie Bay professional Leighton James and Brad Shilton]."
His tweaking sessions with national high performance coach and mentor Brian Doyle, of Hastings, before the pro-am last Friday had put him on the straight and narrow with his game.
Reflecting on his bogey yesterday , the former Bay and national amateur representative said it was "soft".
"On days like today you're expected to make bogeys so I'm pretty lucky to have just made one," he said, adding it had rained several times on the course which made it bitterly cold, although he still enjoyed himself.
Hill also had a good round going, getting to six under par after 13 holes, then a couple of bogeys on 14 and 15 to finish four under with a 68.
He carded birdies on the par-three No 2, then a block of three on 5, 6 and 7 to turn in 32.
The Aucklander then added two more birdies on 12 and 13 before dropping his two shots.
A couple of bogeys left Bae, 23, a stroke behind the joint winners.
Bay professional Blair Shaw carded 74 and Andrew Henare was a shot behind him.
James could not emulate his top-order finish last Friday in Hastings, succumbing to 78 yesterday in Gisborne.
GOLF: Holloway keen despite upset
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