CHARLESTOWN professional Andrew Dodt will tee off in the $400,000 NSW Open at Twin Creeks on Thursday thankful to be playing a competitive round.
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Dodt was to be in Hong Kong for a $2.9 million co-sanctioned European-Asian tour event.
However, the tournament was cancelled due to the political unrest in Hong Kong, leaving Dodt without a lead-up event to the Australian Open.
Fortunately, Golf NSW and the PGA of Australia then agreed to extend the field at Twin Creeks from 144 to 156 players to allow Dodt, Brett Rumford, Terry Pilkadaris and Hong Kong local Matthew Cheung to compete.
"I got pretty fortunate to get a start in the NSW Open," Dodt said. "There were four of us who were meant to play the Hong Kong Open. When it was cancelled the same guys wanted a start in the NSW Open, but there was only one sponsor invite left. There was a bit of a struggle to get us in over a 48 hour period.
"I'm sure there will be a few people who won't be pleased by it, just because it was so late. Entries close two weeks before the tournament and this happened less than a week out."
PGA of Australia Tournaments Director Nick Dastey said the decision, made in conjunction with the Tournament Players Council, was a simple one and "has added some real quality to the AV Jennings NSW Open field".
Dodt did have concerns about playing in Hong Kong, where he finished third in 2016.
"The tournament is 40 minutes outside of the city," he said. "They protested at the airport three months ago, so what's to stop them going to a public event like a golf tournament. They are after maximum media attention."
Now his focus is on the NSW Open and hitting form ahead of the $1.5 million Australian Open at The Australian the week after.
"It is a good thing having a competitive week under my belt leading in to the Aussie Open," said Dodt, who is one of 11 Hunter golfers in the field. "I last played the NSW Open in 2016 and finished eighth. That was at Stonecutter's Ridge. I haven't played Twin Creeks. I'm in the pro-am on Wednesday and will get my first look at it then. I hear it is a short course and you hit a lot of wedges into greens and the scoring will be low. To do that, you have to wedge it close and hole putts. That is what I have focused my practice on."
Dodt, who has had a win and a string of top 15 places since joining the Asian Tour after a decade in Europe, finished fifth in his last tournament, the Victoria PGA at Cape Schanck.
"It has been a month since the Vic PGA so I will find out where my game is at on Thursday," he said. "I had two weeks off and then practiced for the past two weeks. I had a month between events, now I have four events in a row. The break will freshen me up for a good run in before Christmas."
Charlestown club professional and coach Ryan Smith is caddying for Dodt at the NSW and Australian Open.
Practice at Twin Creeks was interrupted for more than an hour on Tuesday due to a fierce electrical storm.
