Garrett Celebrates Yamba Victory
Nikki Garrett shot a superb 5 under par round of 68 to take victory the BWAC Regional and Community Services ALPG Pro-am at Yamba Golf and Country Club.
The win has been a long time coming for Garrett, whose last tournament victory came at the 2006 Macarthur YAP Golf Classic, the same year that she won twice on the Ladies European Tour in her rookie season.
The recently engaged Garrett, who also celebrated her 31st birthday yesterday, got off to a solid start going out in 3 under par 34 on the more difficult back nine. She added birdies at the 1st and 2nd and made solid pars home to win by 3 shots from Ireland’s Rebecca Codd, and collect the $3000 winners` cheque.
Garrett was quick to praise the condition of the course while noting that her 68 was 10 shots better than her round in the inaugural BWAC Yamba Pro-am in 2014.
Nikki’s struggles off the tee with her driver have been well documented in recent years and she credited her move to Brisbane earlier this year with now fiancé Frank Barrett to her improved form.
“Lots of things have fallen into place since I moved to Brisbane last year.” She credited physiotherapist Sean Fyfe for the work they have done together on her strength and stability.
’Sean picked up that I was weak in some areas, especially through the hips. The hips have always been an issue in my swing and once I started seeing results and feeling stronger I started to feel more comfortable with the driver. I played much better this year in Europe than I have done in previous years, from the middle of the year I felt that I wasn’t far away from another good week. At my last event in China in 2014, I was in second place going into the final round. It was the first time I had been in contention for a while and I played well even though the putter let me down. I knew then I was making good progress.”
Along with her ALPG colleagues, Garrett head north up the Pacific Highway to McLeod Country Golf Club in Brisbane with confidence restored for the inaugural McLeod ALPG pro-am on the 12th and 13th January.