The Blue Mountains hosted two events of the SParms PGA Legends Tour recently, with Springwood Country Club staging the Fidelity Capital Group Charity Legends Pro-Am on November 18, followed the next day by the ICF Haulage Legends Pro-Am at Blackheath Golf Club on November 19.
Fifty-one professionals and a full field of amateurs played in Springwood, with Ben Jackson taking out the event with a 3-under par score of 66, ahead of Martin Peterson and Peter Fowler tied for second on 67, then David Van Raalte on 68, Nicholas Robb and Scott Ford on 69, then David Fearns, Peter Lonard and Michael Harwood all on 70.
This was Jackson's sixth win on the Legends Tour, including two wins earlier this year. Born in the UK in 1967, Jackson represented England Boys in 1984, before emigrating to Australia in 1987. He won the Western Australia Open in 1995 and was later the co-founder, and is now head of research and development, for Grip Master Leather Grip Company.
In the amateur ranks at Springwood, the winners were: A Grade - David Limbach, runner-up Adam Forster; B Grade - Tom Weber, runner-up Sean Hodgins-Lucas; C Grade - Alan Evers, runner-up Paul Mason; Ladies -Claire Bradley.
The professionals headed to Blackheath the following day and were again blessed with perfect weather, with 54 professionals and a full field of amateurs facing the starter. Steve Conran and Anthony Summers both shot 3-under par scores of 66 to share the honours and the spoils on the day, ahead of Michael Holden, Martin Peterson and Michael Harwood all on 68, then Tim Elliott, John Wade, Grant Fyander, David Fearns, Peter Fowler and Andy Rogers all tied on 69.
Conran won the Australian Amateur in 1989, before turning professional in 1990. He subsequently won the Singapore Open in 1995, then played on the Japan Tour for 22 years (1997-2015), before playing a further three years on the Japan Legends Tour (2016-18). Conran has 17 wins on the PGA Legends Tour.
Summers spent over 25 years on the professional circuit, including an appearance in the US Open at The Olympic Course in 2012. Summers won the QLD PGA Championships in 2014 and the VIC PGA Seniors Championship in 2020. His win at Blackheath was his second on the PGA Legends Tour.
The action moves to Richmond Golf Club on November 25-27 for the prestigious RM Williams Australian PGA Seniors Championship, which has attracted a strong field of 74 players, headed by 2020 runner-up Peter Lonard.
