GOLF - Clarke aiming for pro circuit

Sherwood Park golfer Dale Clarke knows what he has to do if he wants to make it as a professional player on the Australian professional circuit.
"It's a matter of fine tuning my game really," he said, after he was one of 35 players to earn a provisional Australasian PGA card at the qualifying tournament at the Peninsula Country Golf Club in Frankston, Victoria on Friday.
"I know I can shoot the low scores but I can't allow myself to record the high scores if I want to be competitive as a professional - I need to find some consistency."
He was one of 13 amateurs in the field of 70 who made the cut for Friday's final round of the qualifying tournament and will now take the option of turning professional. He missed out on a full tour card - awarded to the top 35 players in the field - but after two rounds on Wednesday, he wasn't even certain of making the cut.
After starting Thursday on a tenuous 10 over, Clarke fired his best round of the four-round tournament with a two-under 70. On the final day he backed up that score with a solid three-over in difficult conditions.
"The fourth round was probably my best round given the very windy conditions on the final day," Clarke said.
The tournament was won by Victorian professional Andrew Tschudin, who finished on eight-under par after the four rounds.
Clarke shared 53rd place with Mark Boe.
"I'll get playing rights for most of the tournaments and the pro-ams and I've got a few tournaments in January and the start of February," he said.
Clarke is planning to keep his job at a Victorian golf academy now, until he starts to make progress in his professional career.
"I'll keep my job and work around the tournaments initially for some security until I work out how I'm going to go."