Staged with the support of the Edward River Council, the Deniliquin Golf Club staff and members laid out the welcome mat for their first event on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series.
It was an especially warm welcome for Lawson whose good friend Noel Swainger is a member at Deniliquin and coach Darrell Brown made the trip up from Geelong.
On top of spending some time practising in the morning, Brown caddied for Lawson in the afternoon as he stormed home to post 8-under 64 and a one-stroke win from rookie Toby Walker.
Lawson led going into the final round of the BRG Open Golf Championship Da Nang on the Asian Development Tour but was run down by fellow Australian Aaron Wilkin.
He was quick to shrug that disappointment off and tap into the good form he has displayed for much of the year.
“I feel like most of the year I’ve been trending and then to come here – one of my good mates is a member here – so I was pretty relaxed.
“I did some work with my coach this morning and he was on the bag so felt quite good.”
Lawson praised the presentation of the golf course on Wednesday, matching up his speed perfectly late to separate himself from the field.
Ruben Lal’s 4-under 68 was the best of the morning players, Lawson making birdie at three of his final four holes to move clear of Walker (65) and Matt Millar (66).
“The greens were rolling good, quite quick,” added Lawson, who will defend his WA Open title at Joondalup Country Club next month.
“There’s only four or five greens staff so to get the greens in the condition they are is absolutely fantastic.
“I had a look with three holes to go and saw that there were a few of us at 6-under.
“Rolled a couple of good putts in late. It’s always good to win, hole a few putts and get over the line.”
For the full list of results and prizemoney, go to https://pga.org.au/report/?tourn=N458&report=tmresult~season=2023~result=PF~&class=nsw.
~ Tony Webeck is senior writer with PGA Australia
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