Troy’s flirt with history
GUN local Troy Tainton threatened to hit golf’s magical 59 number with one of the lowest scores ever at 13th Beach last week.
Playing off +2, Tainton, 51, shot a blemish-free 10-under 62 on the Creek course, signing for a remarkable 44 stableford points in last Wednesday’s competition.
It was Tainton’s lowest score off a par 72 course, beating his previous benchmark of 64.
Australian pro Jake McLeod holds the Creek course record with a 61, which he shot in 2017 at the Vic Open.
Tainton would have been seven-under through seven holes if a three-iron approach on the par-5 seventh had dropped for albatross. He hit his second from 193m to a foot and tapped in the eagle chance.
Instead he was seven-under through eight and in with a chance of breaking 59, going around the front in 29 shots.
“I was fairly calm actually through most of it. I birdied 10 and I birdied 13 and 14 and that got me to 10-under after 14, so 59 was on the books,” Tainton said. “I brought that up with the boys and they said that they didn’t want to mention it. I had chances on the last four holes to make some birdies but obviously I held my fair share of putts and they dried up after that.”
The score was even more extraordinary after rounds of 75 and 74 in his previous two hits.
“That’s why we’re all hooked on golf — it doesn’t matter how bad it gets, you just rock up next time because a good one could be right around the corner,” Tainton said.
And most importantly he won the competition.
“It’s funny, there are days where I can shoot 44 points in the comp and be lucky to win a prize,” he said. “I’ve been off +5 before and I’ve been giving 18 shots away in A-grade.”
Tainton said his work with the putter was the key, as was hitting 17 greens.
“I wouldn’t say it was my best ball-striking round,” he said. “It was one of those rounds … and typically your good rounds come where it seems every shot you have, you’ve got the right club in your hands and you feel good.”