Curtis Luck feels his game is on track to make another solid performance at the upcoming Nexus Risk TSA Group WA Open at WA Golf Club.
The Cottesloe amateur almost pulled of an incredible upset against the professional field last November at Royal Fremantle, leading late before Lakelands’ Daniel Fox charged home to take the title with Luck placing second.
With just two and a half weeks until the 2016 WA Open tees off on Thursday the 28th of April, Luck says he’s only making small tweaks to his game with coach Craig Bishop — who has some handy knowledge as a member at WA Golf Club.
“I’m feeling more comfortable around [WA Golf Club] now than I did about a year ago,” said Luck.
“I’m swinging it a bit different and hitting different shots. A lot of the tee shots now suit my eye where previously they didn’t so I’m really excited about playing it under tournament conditions at the WA Open.”
“Everything’s kind of falling in place. I’m just working on some really minor things that Bish thinks might help me out leading into the WA Open. Everything’s going really well. I just have to get my head around Yokine basically.”
Considering that the 19 year old blitzed the field with a seven shot victory at last week’s WAGC Amateur Open, it’s remarkable that Luck still wants to familiarise himself more with the course – especially after coming in at 10-under with rounds of 66 and 64.
While Luck admitted he had scored well, he feels he’ll need more when facing the course in tournament conditions.
“Regardless of how much I won by, shooting 10-under for two rounds. If you did that for four rounds that’s 20-under which that would be a pretty tough score [to beat],” said Luck.
“But I think the course get be a lot tougher too, so I don’t think it means anything at this stage. If someone could average 5-under there over four rounds — I think it will be around the mark. I’m not sure what the score last time it was at WA Golf Club but that should be pretty close.”
That winning mark in 2010 just happened to be 10-under set by Queenslander Brad Kennedy, who eagled the last to take the title by a shot. While this may indicate that Luck is closer than he realises it’s just as likely an indicator of the big set up in difficulty for professional events.
The pressure of leading the WA Open on the back nine may have been Luck’s undoing five months ago, but Luck feels he’s more prepared to handle the situation should he find himself in a similar position.
“It was a huge experience coming down the stretch while under the pump,” said Luck.
“I learnt a lot from that and hopefully this year I can get in a similar situation, cruise down the stretch and not have to think about it too much.”