HE ultimately drank from golf's Holy Grail, but it was a few cups from a regular grail that made Grahame Stinson's pre-Christmas 59 at The Links Shell Cove all the more remarkable.
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The 'part-time' whiz managed golf's most coveted mark at The Links on the last comp day before Christmas, sinking a final putt for eagle on the 18th hole to finish sub-60 for the round.
Having indulged in some Christmas cheer in the lead-up, Stinson wasn't sure he could see it through when he first hit the tee.
"I wasn't feeling it early, I was a bit hungover, but it's Christmas so you've got to what you've got to do," Stinson said.
"It was probably about the 12th I thought I was a chance to shoot fairly low because I was six under at that stage and there's two easier holes and a bit of a trickier par five to finish with.
"I missed that putt and thought 'oh well that's the end of that' but then I birdied 14 and 15 and holed it out of the bunker on [hole] 16 for eagle. That took me to 10 under."
With that eagle, it looked like he could play it fairly safe down the stretch but it was only late in the piece he realised he had a bit more to do to hit the magic number.
"At that stage I thought I only needed one birdie to have 59 but as it worked out, they've changed the fifth to a par four, so I needed to finish birdie, birdie. I didn't realise that until the 18th," Stinson said.
"I got to 17 and two-putted for five [par] and then [on the 18th] I hit a wedge to about three feet. I said to the boys 'I've got two putts for a 59' and they said 'no, you've got one, they've changed the fifth to a par four'.
"Me and Jason Kast go head to head every week and he was in the group before. Him and Keiran Govers knew I needed that putt on the last so they stood there and watched me.
"It put the pressure on me but that's what it's all about, getting out there with the boys, having a bit of fun and taking the piss out of each other. It's good fun."
It was a career best for one of the region's best amateurs, but he believes he won't be alone in the sub-60 club for too long.
"Eight-under was my previous best in comp, that was at the Grange, but I thought earlier in the year that someone was going to hit 59 on this [Shell Cove] course," he said.
"There's a lot of good scores and if there's no wind you can score there. If there's wind though, you can go and shoot 90."
Whether it nudges him toward turning pro, remains to be seen, fitting it it around his weekend shifts in the mines the primary driver.
"I tried to qualify two years ago but it's top three and I came fourth," he said.
"I'd love to do it again but you need money to do it, I'd need a sponsor really, that's what it comes down to. The qualifier to turn pro this year is in February in Melbourne so I'm not sure it'll happen.
"You've got have two weeks off and isolate and all that so I can't afford to have two weeks off work. There's not a great deal of money in the seniors stuff but it would work out well because I work weekends. I could go and play all the pro-ams and seniors stuff mid-week but it takes money to do it."