Aussie champ ready for Samoa Open

By Julie Iles 29 June 2016, 12:00AM

Australian golfing champion, Andre Stolz, is looking forward to the next few days in Samoa.

As one of the professionals in the country for the 2016 Samoa Open, the former winner of the U.S. P.G.A Tour and champion of 2013 South Pacific Open in New Caledonia, Stolz said he is delighted to be in Samoa.

“You know, obviously Australian winter is horrible at the moment, and it’s just nice to come have some warm weather,” he told the Samoa Observer yesterday.

Stolz and thirty other pros will tee off tomorrow morning when the tournament begins at Fagali’i.

 “I’ve been lucky enough to play all over the world,” said Stolz, who has travelled across Europe, the United States, Asia, Japan on P.G.A and other golf tours over the past 30 years. 

This is Stolz’s third time playing in Samoa. He first played here as a ‘young and hungry’ pro and said his golfing career has come full circle with his return to an Open tournament in Samoa.

“I’m only just sneaking into that category still,” said Stolz.

Stolz was surprised at the talent of the younger players that came to the event last year.

“There were a few guys I’d never heard of that played really well, and turned out to be some pretty good players. I think that’s the beauty of a young event like this, it’s a great opportunity for a young guy to not only make some prize money but to improve his status to get into some of the bigger events back home.”

Stolz said of the organizers of the event have been fantastic. 

“They do a lot with what they’ve got, and they’ve gone out of their way to get ready for us.”

The course is known for having a trickier first nine holes. When asked about his strategy for the tournament, Stolz said it’s not to get stuck on the four or five trickier holes early on.

“If I can get through those without doing too much damage, then hopefully I can pick up a few birdies on the others and I’ll have a good score here. Any hole can jump up and grab you, but there will certainly be some opportunities to make some birdies if you play well.”

By Julie Iles 29 June 2016, 12:00AM

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