JORDAN Zunic has chosen love over golf.
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The Sanctuary Point product has bailed from the upcoming Australia PGA Championships as it clashed with a more important date.
Zunic will wed his fiancée Olivia Marlow in Queenstown, New Zealand, on December 20 - day two of the PGA tournament.
"It's obviously very disappointing to miss the PGA," Zunic said.
"But I had the wedding booked around my [golf] schedule and they changed the date earlier this year.
"By that time, we had guests from overseas who had booked their flights and accommodation... it was going to be a logistical nightmare to change," he said.
Related content: Zunic one step closer to securing 2020 European Tour ticket
"I said to Olivia 'you get married once, there's plenty of PGA's to go play in' because she was a bit upset about it at the time.
"I told her not to worry, there's more important things than one golf tournament. We're both getting very excited about the wedding."
Queenstown holds special memories for the couple. Zunic played in the New Zealand Pro-Am four years ago where he was "randomly paired" with Marlow's mum, Maryanne.
"Olivia came to watch her play and that's how we were introduced," Zunic said.
"I said to Olivia 'you get married once, there's plenty of PGA's to go play in'.
- Jordan Zunic
"Maryanne played really well that week too and we managed to win.
"I also had my first professional win there the same week [NZ Open].
"I stayed in touch with Olivia and the rest is history... you couldn't script it any better I think."
For now, Zunic has one more golf challenge to focus on before the wedding.
The 27-year-old will take part in the Australian Open at Sydney's Australian Golf Club, starting this Thursday.
Zunic heads into the tournament on the back of an equal 15th placing at the NSW Open at Twins Creek.
"My goal for the NSW Open was top 15, so I thought I'd bump it up to a top 10 goal this week," he said.
"That would be an amazing way to finish the year.
"If I get myself into a position to do better than that coming into Sunday, that's a bonus.
"The Australian Golf Club is quite a long golf course and it's quite demanding with your approach to the greens.
"There's certain parts of it where you've got to be quite accurate.
"I've played it a few years now so I feel like I have the gist of where to hit, where to not hit it.
"Hopefully I can use that experience to help me have a good couple of rounds and set myself up for the weekend."
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Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
