Brett forced into ranking golf and a wedding
PLAYING for an Australian PGA Championship can be stressful but it pales in comparison to messing with the emotions of a bride-to-be the day before her wedding.
Brett Rankin found himself in a tough spot during last year’s tournament at Royal Pines as he tried to juggle golf and a commitment he had
made to be at his friend’s marriage ceremony.
“Last year a good friend of mine was getting married on the Saturday,” Rankin said.
“All week I was telling her I’d be at the wedding but I just didn’t know what time.
“If I missed the cut then I’d be there all day but if I made it then I’d just have to get there as soon as possible.”
The wedding was held in the Byron Bay hinterland, nearly two hours south of the golf course.
“I ended up making the cut and I didn’t get to the wedding until quite late because I teed off in the afternoon,” he said.
“When I arrived the whole bridal party told me instead of spending the previous day celebrating the fact they were getting married, they were all on their phones following my progress.
“They weren’t worried about the wedding and I was thinking this game is too important to be worrying about it.”
Rankin said as soon as he finished playing his round on the Friday, he rushed back to his accommodation to get his suit before spending just a couple of hours at the wedding after making the trip to NSW.
Rankin, who trains at KDV Sport at Carrara on the Gold Coast, was scheduled to tee off late the next morning but predicted storms meant play was shifted forward about three hours.
He went on to finish tied for 30th at five-under par.