In football, you can’t salvage a bad year with just one good week.

In golf, it’s different.

And that’s why, even with only three weeks of the US Nationwide Tour season remaining, Sunshine Coast professionals Steven Bowditch and Andrew Bonhomme aren’t giving up.

To put it bluntly, Bowditch and Bonhomme have endured disastrous years on the secondary tour which has proved to be a breeding ground for golf champions, but can also ruin others’ careers.

On Saturday morning they both missed the halfway cut at WNB Golf Classic in Texas.

It was a familiar scenario because neither player has made it through to the final 36 holes very often this year.

Bonhomme, who enjoyed by far the best year of his career in 2007 and narrowly missed qualifying for the ultra-lucrative US PGA Tour, is 203rd on the moneylist, banking just US$6385 from 20 events.

He has made just two cuts and is on a horrid streak of nine weekends off in a row.

It’s even worse for Bowditch, who has made a paltry US$3800 this year and is back in 231st place on the moneylist.

The average earnings for a Nationwide Tour player this year is about $70,000.
As tough as it has been for the Coast duo, it must be just as difficult for their families and supporters to watch their weekly battles to regain their game.
Neither has instantly become a bad golfer.

It’s just that golf is such a fickle sport you can feel like you have conquered the game one moment and then be completely unhinged the next.

Bonhomme admitted on his website a couple of weeks ago how difficult it was to maintain the drive to play when golf was not only taking him away from his young family for long stretches, but costing him a fortune with little to show in return.

“Wow, this game can be tough,” he said.

“Last year when I was playing so well it felt like I was in control of every shot and able to accept the result.

“This year, since recovering from wrist injury, I have not been in control of my game.

“I feel like I am in a rut that is hard to define as I am not sure what I am doing that is so bad but I can recognise the negativity when I am in it.

“However I am sure I can turn this around.”

The good times could return to Bonhomme and Bowditch as soon as this week.

In golf, anything is possible.

One high finish, maybe even a win, will salvage the year and secure their playing rights for 2009.

Let’s hope that, just like Katherine Hull and Sarah-Jane Kenyon, there are some great times to follow the black ones.
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Gus campaign kicks along
Another week passes with the Sunshine Coast council failing to back up the $5 million commitment the previous Caloundra council made to help fund the stadium at Stockland Park.

That money adds to the $8.5 million pledged by the state government and $5 million agreed to by the federal government.

Meanwhile, on the Gold Coast on Friday, their council committed $20 million to a new stadium to add to Skilled Park.

The Give Us a Stadium campaign rolls on.