‘Stay in the contest’: young guns urged to meet the challenge

That’s the message from perennial open champ Robert Payne to the select group of young guns filtering through the ranks on the region’s golf courses.

Payne, the 2016 Blayney, Wentworth, Duntryleague and Orange Ex-Services open champion says most, if not all, of the young players in tournaments drive the ball past his every hole.

But a lack of experience and a penchant to kick the bucket if things go pear shaped often results in experience prevailing over the exuberance of youth.

The message from Payne – “stay in the contest”.

“In golf, you get to a handicap by playing your own game, I just try and stick to my own golf in tournaments too,” he added.

“It’s experience and it’s a mental thing.”

James Conran and James Walford lead the charge for Orange’s elite next generation group, while Jones Comerford (Dubbo, pictured left)) is also a promising golfer.

“James (Conran) is the leading light in that group though,” Payne said.

“I played golf with him a couple of Wednesdays ago and he was seven under through the first nine, then finished with a 63, which is still seven under.

“It’s easy to play well at home, but finding that consistency on different courses is important.

“James has done that. He’s won at Ex-Servcies and at Wenty.

“I’ve played with James (Walford) too, and he impressed me. He hit one or two over and played much better than that. But that’s a good sign. If you’re not scoring well and it’s still only one or two over you’re not going too bad.”

Comerford won his home open at Dubbo, while Conran was runner-up to Payne at the Duntryleague Hahn Open.

Payne hoped to see more juniors take up golf and continue to perform throughout the Central West District Golf Association.