Power ready to tackle Open
AFTER almost a decade without playing in a professional tournament, Cairns golfer Frank Power admits to feeling a few butterflies ahead of tomorrow’s Queensland Open.
“Yeah. I’ll certainly be more nervous than I normally am when I play,” the correctional officer said. “It’s been a while since I played at this level.”
Power qualified for the event after taking out the Far North Queensland Open at Gordon- vale in June and has been in Queensland’s southeast this week preparing to play on Brisbane Golf Club’s fast and firm course
While wary of setting any goals ahead of the event, Power said his short game would have to be sharp if he was to have any chance of being competitive.
“It’s funny, because my form probably isn’t as good as it was when I qualified,” he said.
“The greens are a lot harder than in Far North Queensland. Brisbane Golf Club has very fast greens too. My iron shots aren’t as sharp as they had been the last few months. But this golf course means you have to be precise. There are a lot of bunkers on the course which can really hurt you.”
The chance to play in the four-day tournament was reward in itself, Power said.
“There was a period where I took a bit of time off golf for a while,” he said. “At the start of the year my goal was to qualify for this event, so I’m really pleased to have made it this far.”
“They’ve done nothing wrong, whether it’s running in a maiden at Murray Bridge or its running in the Melbourne Cup, if they’ve got the name, they should keep the name.”