Forgettable Year For Pike
The Age
Friday November 23, 2007
THIS time 12 months ago, Aaron Pike was the toast of Australian golf. As a 21-year-old amateur, he had equalled Huntingdale's course record of 64 in the first round of the Australian Masters.
A year on, though, Pike has turned professional and is already battling the worst of all golfing troubles, the stain of a scoring controversy.The Queenslander says it was an honest mistake that led to his disqualification at the Australian amateur championships in Sydney last March; it would be fair to say his new-found colleagues on the professional scene have been less than charitable in their response.On his first hole on the second day of strokeplay at the championships, the par-four 10th at New South Wales Golf Club, Pike was guilty of writing down a four on his card instead of a bogey five.It gave him a score that allowed him to make the halfway cut by the barest of margins. But after a complaint from a playing partner, Golf Australia called Pike in for an investigation, and ultimately disqualified him. The matter has been kept quiet."I signed for the wrong score," he said yesterday. "I thought it was the right score, I signed for it, and the difference was that it made the cut on the number, instead of missing the cut by one. Obviously it was a sensitive situation."Golf Australia's director of tournaments, Trevor Herden, confirmed the national body had admonished Pike. "We had a meeting, we went through a process with Aaron. Everything's been resolved. He just has to be very mindful of how he operates in the future. He's committed to that. We've dealt with it and he's going to move on."Pike, who spent much of of the past year playing amateur championships in America, said he would move on. "Pretty much. That's exactly right." The burly Brisbane lad carded a 74 yesterday on the opening day at Huntingdale, his putter running cold. "I'll go away and work on it and hopefully things turn around," he said. -- MARTIN BLAKE
© 2007 The Age
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