ANDREW Bowden leads the field heading into the final two rounds of the Choices Flooring Tamworth Golf Club A Grade Club Championship today.
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The apprentice plasterer, 20, has a three-shot lead over club treasurer Ben Lockwood, with Andrew Hamilton a shot back and Nigel Robertson and Andew Cameron a further shot back (151) and John Trevaskis on 152 in what shapes as a tight final 36 holes today and tomorrow.
Bowden, who plays off a handicap of two, is confident he can play well but unsure if he can hold off the likes of Lockwood and Hamilton, both previous club champions.
Indeed it is impressive the young golfer is back playing let alone leading the best players in the club because 12 months ago he was in Tamworth Base Hospital having surgery on a dislocated right ankle and broken fibula.
It was a nasty injury suffered filling in for Pirates in a third grade rugby union match.
“May 17 last year,” Bowden confirmed this week from Guyra where he was on the job for Tamworth Plaster Works at the huge tomato farm project.
“12 months ago to the day,” he said of last weekend’s golf efforts.
Two rounds of 73 which Tamworth captain Ken Mundy reported had him three in front of Lockwood.
That he celebrated his 12 months by playing so solidly around the par 70 course was satisfying because he still has trouble walking and watches every step lest he re-injure the ankle.
He spent a long time recovering from an operation and thanks the local hospital staff for their care.
He also thanks Tamworth Plaster Works for keeping him employed.
“They could have put me off – I was only an apprentice,” he said.
Golf and rugby have been Bowden’s sporting passions since he was young.
“I started playing competitively when I was eight,” he said of his golfing career.
“I went away to all the big junior tournaments and I played for Central North in the Country Cup as well.”
He was playing well and “got down to plus 1 when I was 17”.
Bowden is modest about his own game though.
“I hit it about 260m,” he said.
“But not very consistent. I play well out of the trees.”
His short game, he said, is his strong point.
“Chipping,” he said.
“But I’m hot and cold with the putter.
“It depends on how the greens are running.”
While he’s hoping to win the A Grade title, he knows how good the likes of Lockwood and Hamilton are.
“It would be a big accomplishment,” he said.
He will have plenty of support too, especially from his workmates.
It has been a good week for them, with office manager Mal “Chum” Nash winning the big Nemingha to Nundle and Return bike race last weekend and fellow apprentice Jarrod McCluand shown playing for his first grade Tamworth hockey side in a Leader picture earlier this week.
Throw in the exploits of another apprentice Dylan Lake with West Lions and Pirates globetrotting centre-fullback Jake Hartmann and you have the makings of plenty of sporting banter around the smoko and lunch table at work.
Tamworth Plaster Works owner Tim Simmonds showed his sporting hand last year when he took on one of the cricket franchises in the Tamworth Premier League Twenty20 Cricket.