Bourke to defend Nexus South West Open title

The Victorian professional flew into Western Australia on Tuesday for two weeks packed full of games including the Capel and Dunsborough one day events ahead of teeing-off in the Bunbury drawcard event on Saturday.

Last year Bourke joined the ranks of the South West Open for the first time after other players on the tour recommended the event too him. 

“Right now there is a bit of a quiet time in the golfing calendar and a few other players recommended this tournament to me,” he said. 

“It was a lot of fun to come over here and be lucky enough to win and I can’t wait to do it all again.” 

Last year Bourke proved a model of consistency across the three rounds of the 67^th annual event firing scores of 68, 68 and 71 on a tough final day where blustery conditions and fast greens undid some of his main rivals. 

“I’ve had a good preparation coming into this event and I’ve been out on the green a fair bit,” he said. 

“There definitely is a strategy coming into a marathon event like this – you can’t just blaze away. 

“The most consistent player will rise to the top so while you occasionally have to take a risk, you don’t want to make too many mistakes early.”

Bunbury Golf Club general manager Des Shearer said everything is ready to go for the 2016 event. 

“The course has come up a treat in the past fortnight which is a credit to all the hard work that went in over a tough summer and autumn,” he said. 

“We’ve got two new greens on holes one and six and we are keen to see what the professional golfers make of them.” 

The Bunbury event starts on Friday with the Bunbury Holden Pro-Am before the Isuzu Truck Classic and the Nexus South West Open are played from Saturday to Monday and the Qube Night Golf Shootout on Sunday evening. There is also a sports dinner on Saturday night and a kids putting competition for aspiring juniors.