Happily, there is always one thing you can count on - as soon as you finish a mildly deflating tournament, you can immediately start preparing for the next.
That is the approach Ben Campbell is taking after leaving his home Millbrook course further down the leaderboard than he would have liked on Sunday.
Campbell finished tied for 36th in the $2 million New Zealand Open.
He scraped through to the weekend right on the cut line then had rounds of 67 and 71 to finish the tournament at 6-under-par, 16 shots behind winner Daniel Hillier.
Campbell had two birdies through the first eight holes of his final round but struck the worst of the bad weather and fired two bogies in the next three holes.
‘‘It wasn’t that nice,’’ the popular Queenstown golfer told the Otago Daily Times.
‘‘I actually thought it was going to snow at one point. It was pretty horrible. I had the beanie and the puffer jacket on at one point.
‘‘I just never really got the putter going all week, which made it very frustrating.
‘‘Some good, some bad - I’ve got a few things to work on before next week.’’
Campbell opened the tournament with consecutive rounds of 1-under-par 70, and while he looked sharp in a 4-under 67 in Saturday’s perfect conditions for the third round, there was too much work left.
‘‘I just really battled on the greens, and it’s a course where you’ve really got to have the putter running red-hot.
‘‘It was pretty disappointing, to be honest. It wasn’t a very good effort.
‘‘I actually feel like I swung the club a bit better today, and gave myself plenty of opportunities.’’
While their hometown hero was never really in the hunt, the Millbrook galleries were out in force, especially for the third round in glorious Arrowtown weather.
Campbell enjoys the home support but he hopes his golf game will give him real reason to smile over the coming weeks.
He returns to LIV Golf for the demanding swing through Hong Kong, Singapore and South Africa.
Christchurch tyro Yuki Miya was the joint leader of the New Zealand Open - with eventual champion Hillier - after the first round, and held the outright lead at the halfway point.
While he battled a little at the weekend, carding 70 and 74 to finish tied for 19th at 10-under, he claimed the Bledisloe Cup for low amateur.
‘‘If you’d given me the Bledisloe at the start of the week, I would have taken it,’’ Miya said.
‘‘I could tell I sort of belonged, especially being tournament leader after 36 holes. Next time I’d like to finish it off.’’
Miya said there was never a dull moment and he would cherish memories of his week at Millbrook.
Playing alongside Hillier in front of massive galleries was followed by a final round in a group with Champions Tour star Steven Alker.
‘‘It was great to play with someone like Steven, who’s obviously very accomplished himself.
‘‘And I was lucky enough to beat him as well, ha ha. It was good fun.’’
