Playing in his first World Par 3 Championships in Bermuda at the Fairmont Southampton, Turtle Hill Golf Club course, Gary finished in a tie for 8th position returning an overall score of 112.
Having arrived in Bermuda on Wednesday 26th March, after his first European Senior Tour committee meeting at the European Tour Headquarters, the Wentworth Golf Club, Surrey, Gary used his two days before the tournament to hone his short game skills before the quick fire event kicked off on Saturday monring as he competed against over 100 fellow professionals.
The very difficult par 3 course at the Fairmont hotel played ints part in what was a magnificent championships, depsite the weather which was certainly not what you would expect from Bermuda, as winds of over 20mph were recorded making scoring extremely difficult even for the top professionals. Renowned for his short game skills and having great experience of Par 3 golf, having competed at the Farmfoods British Par 3 Championships for a number of years, Gary was a hot favourite, and played himself into contention after day one with a +2 round.
The second round delivered much of same for Gary and the other competitors with difficult weather conditions however another solid round of +2 from Gary saw him climb the leaderboard into 8th position and take home a prize cheque for $1,850, finishing only four shots behind eventual winner and fellow European Senior Tour professional Mark Mouland.
Gary was delighted with the preparation this even gave him ahead of the season and now returns home to pack his bags as he once again jets off to America for a couple of weeks golf with friends to further his practice ahead of the first event on the European Senior Tour calendar, the Senior US PGA Championships in Benton Harbour, Michigan.