He has to handle things with care at his day job, but South Australian Peter Cooke was more than happy to do some “slam dunk” damage to the Lake Karrinyup golf course at the Perth International on Friday.

Cooke turned professional in 2008, but has spent most of this year working for a cargo company at Adelaide airport just to make ends meet.

The 27-year-old hasn’t had much time to play golf this year, featuring in just three tournaments before the Perth International.

But things could be on the way up for Cooke, who shot a six-under-par 66 on Friday to be five-under for the $2 million tournament and within striking distance of the leaders heading into the weekend.

More spectacular was his display at the par-five third, where he produced the golf equivalent of a ‘slam dunk’ when his shot from 100m out landed directly in the hole for an eagle.

Cooke was stoked with the result, but the course stewards weren’t all that thrilled after seeing the damage it caused.

“I took a pretty decent chunk of the lip out,” Cooke said with a laugh.

“I had to do some repair work. I might become a greenkeeper because I did a pretty good job.”

With a world ranking of 1226, Cooke is realistic about where his career is at.

But he hopes to earn enough money over coming months to be able to cut back on his airport work duties and put more time into his golf game.

“Financially, it’s not great because I’ve got to work,” Cooke said of his golfing revenue this year.

“But a good season over the next month-and-a-half can change all that.”