KEY POINTS:
By the standards of recent years, the last two months have been brimming with good results for New Zealand golfers overseas.
The golden run started in late May when Simon Owen won the Italian Seniors Open in a three-way playoff, his first victory in six years. In mid-June Doug Holloway, after four weeks in which he'd finished no worse than 8th in events on the Queensland Pro-Am circuit, won the Ellendale Open with an impressive 130 for 36 holes.
Into July the good news continued when Josh Carmichael triumphed at the Tahiti Open, shooting 21 under par to win by four shots. It was the first time the former Pupuke member had won a professional event over 72 holes.
Only a week later Gareth Paddison had to wait a nervous 24 hours because of weather to take out the Allianz Open des Volcans near Clermont-Ferrand in south-central France. Then just last week, Te Awamutu's Brad Shilton won the Queensland Close Championship.
That's five wins in eight weeks, something we might only have dreamed of for the last 10 years. As well, Josh Geary placed third in a Canadian Tour event.
Paddison's was the most prestigious because he plays the second-tier European Challenge Tour and he's now 7th on that money list with a very good chance of earning automatic promotion to the European Tour next year. After five years, the Lower Hutt left-hander might finally be on his way.
Owen's result is pleasing for him but has no real significance for New Zealand prospects. However, it's encouraging to see Holloway, Shilton, Carmichael and Geary succeeding. They're still some way from cracking the big time but they're never going to move to the next level unless they get results and money at a lower level first.
So far these guys, and their mates on the mini tours, have done it on their own; raised the funds and gone and played. Professional golfers have always operated like that, but with the game so much more competitive now, it's recognised that players aren't going to succeed consistently unless they have help.
That's why the new Sparc package is so encouraging. For the first time, the Government money - in this case $1.4m - is to be used for golf from junior development through to fledgling professional. There won't be as much money at the top end as previously, but what there is will help not just top amateur players but also professionals such as Holloway, Carmichael and Shilton, who mostly battle away in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific as they work towards qualifying for a more significant tour.
The new high performance director named this week, David Graham, has the responsibility of initiating the system. There'll be a lot of players chasing drips from a not very large pool. The best way for a player to prove he's worthy of some help is to show he can win. A few players have made a big statement in the last few weeks.
