BARRY Tippett came into the Warrnambool Senior Amateur golf tournament in good form.
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Last week he won the green jacket at the 2014 National Senior Masters and yesterday he took out the inaugural Warrnambool championship with a two-round score of 148.
Tippett, from Torquay, is a member at 13th Beach Golf Club and plays off a zero handicap.
“From all aspects as an outsider it was excellent,” he said.
“The course was in excellent condition.”
Warrnambool Golf Club professional Craig Bonney enticed Tippett to contest the Warrnambool event after meeting him while watching Marc Leishman play earlier in the year.
The talented golfer credits his recent performances to coaching from golf professionals Darrell Brown at Torquay, Craig Bonney at Warrnambool and Paul Smith at Port Fairy.
“It is due to some assistance from the PGA pros giving me lessons,” he said. “I can’t endorse it enough.”
Tippett also enjoys the social side of golf tournaments.
“It’s also about catching up with different people,” he said.
“The guys are really supportive and there is great camaraderie.”
He said he had enjoyed his stay in Warrnambool and lauded the tourist attractions.
“Once word gets around what a great spot it is, it will grow,” he said.
The women’s winner was Warrnambool’s Diana Robinson with a score of 163. Robinson plays off a handicap of 10 and finished ahead of Warrnambool’s Alison Sinclair by four shots.
“Yesterday I had 85 off the stick,” she said.
“I got into slight trouble on the last hole but today I had two over the card on the front nine and four over the card on the back nine so I was very happy with that.”
Tournament director Dale Ballinger said it had been a great two days of golfing.
“We are really happy with our first time,” he said. “We had 61 entries, with 32 different visiting clubs from all over Victoria.”
The Warrnambool course was in perfect condition for the tournament.
“The course has looked as good as it’s ever been,” Ballinger said.
“All of the comments we have received are that people are coming back next year.”
The tournament was part of the club’s week-long Festival of Golf.
“We saw this as a great opportunity to invite golfers to the club and to Warrnambool,” Ballinger said.
“We’ve had perfect weather and everyone has really had a great time.”
Ballinger said the club would now look towards next year’s event.
“We want the tournament to grow and increase in numbers year after year,” he said.