Wayne Perske admits feeling a little awkward as he returns to tour golf in the Victorian PGA on Thursday after a two-year absence following a drug conviction in Japan.
But the 38-year-old Queenslander hopes he can make a positive contribution by mentoring young golfers about the potential pitfalls facing tour pros.
Perske produced a good omen when he made a hole-in-one in practice at the Forest Resort course at Creswick near Ballarat on Wednesday, sinking a seven-iron tee shot, though he described his game as rusty.
And, while he has missed the cut and thrust of tour life, he admitted to mixed feelings this week after qualifying for his comeback event.
“It has been a little bit awkward being back here, a lot of the guys I don’t know but they know me,” said Perske.
“There are lots of new faces which is great, but the old faces have welcomed me back, so it’s a nice feeling to have some support.”
The winner of the Japan Tour’s 2006 Token Homemate Cup, Perske spent 25 days in a Japanese prison and was given an 18-months suspended sentence in 2010 after being caught in possession of small amount of cocaine in a Chiba bar.
Returning to Australia, he turned his hand to real estate and found success but the golf bug bit again.
“I had no interest in playing golf for a good 18 months after my incident but watching some of my mates and my brother in law (Ryan Haller) last summer was the catalyst to get me back,” he said.
“I thought, I may as well have a go. I’ve set up a couple of businesses outside golf, but it’s not my passion.”
“My goal now is to try to mentor some young guys to give back to the game a little bit.
“I’d like to take some of the young guys aside at some time and start a mentoring program.”
Perske has previously revealed he’d dabbled with cocaine a few other times while a tour pro in Japan.
“It became an easy escape route for me, and a better way to relax because it didn’t come with a hangover,” he told Australian Golf Digest columnist Grant Dodd in 2011. “It seems ridiculous now, and unbelievably stupid when I think about the risks I was taking.”
It’s a lesson he feels he can pass on to help others if he can get a mentoring program started.
“I’ve spoken to a few other journeymen like Ryan (Haller) and Michael Wright and we’re happy to take a guy under our wing and make sure they don’t go down the same path as I did.
“It’s a complete regret. I’d give my left arm to go back and play and have those opportunities again.
“If I could just have got through that period without having to pay that massive penalty it would probably be okay now but it is what it is, and I can’t take it back, so I just have to roll with it.
“But if I can turn it into a positive for someone else, then that’s great.”
