Brad Moules heads in to May’s SP Brewery PNG Open in a similar vein of form to last year when he claimed his maiden ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia title in just his rookie year.
In 2016, his results heading to Papua New Guinea included a top-20 in the Oates Vic Open, top-50 in the Victorian PGA Championship and made both cuts at the NZ PGA Championship and ISPS HANDA New Zealand Open.
His preparation this season bares striking resemblances, another top-20 and top-50 in the Vic Open and Victorian PGA Championship and similar finishes during the Tour’s New Zealand swing recently.
It’s a solid start to the 26-year-old’s career and he is happy with the direction his game is heading with a full season under his belt.
“The game is definitely in a better spot compared to this time in 2016. Last year I was coming straight out of a PGA Traineeship and jumping in to the Tour straight away,” Moules said.
“But after a full year on the circuit, I’m more comfortable with how I’m playing.”
Moules now has the chance to go back-to-back when the Tour returns to the Royal Port Moresby Golf Club from 4-7 May and hopes to replicate his winning performance last year.
“It’d be great to go back-to-back. This is my first opportunity to do that with my first big Tour win. The biggest thing for me will be to back up that same performance.
“I’m going to try and play a few pro-am’s in South Australia by supporting their circuit so I’ll be doing a fair bit of preparation back home.”
However, Moules will face stiff competition and expects Anthony Quayle, who he defeated in 2016’s three-way playoff with Aaron Wilkin, to again fire in an environment he’s quite familiar with.
“He (Quayle) has got a few ties to PNG, I think his partner has some family there so he knows the conditions and obviously he was quite comfortable last year being an amateur against the Pro’s,” Moules said.
“He’s definitely grown as a player now and he’s got his Tour ticket. I’ll be keen to see how he goes and I reckon he’s one to watch out for.”
Moules finished a respectable 36th on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit in his debut season, thanks to his win at the PNG Open and consistent golf in the state PGA Championships throughout the year.
The Adelaide local is hoping to take his game to the next level and put in some strong performances in larger events such as the Emirates Australian Open and Australian PGA Championships this year.
“I feel like I played quite well in the state events and had a couple of good finishes. I just need to transition in to the bigger events and aim for some top 10’s in those.
There is opportunity for international golf in Moules’ future. He’s already competed abroad this year having just returned from the PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying School where he earned conditional status.
“I just got back from the Canadian Tour Qualifying School and my game was in a solid spot, unfortunately I just missed out on full status. I missed out in a playoff but I have managed to get conditional status this year on their Tour.”
The SP Brewery Papua New Guinea Golf Open will be played from May 4-7 at Royal Port Moresby Golf Club in Royal Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea with the field vying for a prize purse of $A15,6000.
The winner will receive Official World Golf Ranking Points and become fully exempt on to the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia for the remainder of this season plus a further season.