THE Victorian PGA Championship at Creswick has been praised as the best tournament in Victoria this year by tournament director Andrew Langford-Jones.In what was the first of at least five championships to be held at Forest Resort, Langford-Jones said there had been mostly positive feedback from players, despite some sections of the course not considered to have meet championships standards.Preferred lies were permitted on every fairway over the four-day tournament, due to the lack of grass coverage on some fairways.A lack of water in recent months was said to be the reason behind some rough patches, but Langford-Jones said preferred lies were not unusual on the Australasian PGA Tour.“We probably have preferred lies in about 30 per cent of tournaments, so it wasn’t that unusual,” he said.“It was probably five or six holes where it could have been taken. We didn’t want to confuse the players about which holes were preferred lies so we just made it across the board.”Huge crowds flocked to Creswick for the final round, where hundreds watched on as the final group succumbed to the intense pressure.Langford-Jones said the turnout from the crowd exemplified how the region had got behind the event to make it the success it was.He said the general view from the competing professionals was that the course was a welcome change to the usual courses.“They loved the course.They thought it was good,” he said.“It was a course that actually made them think. ‘‘Most courses these days they just step up there and hit the driver as far as they can on every hole.“It was the best event we’ve seen this year.”Langford-Jones said planning was already under way for next year’s event.“We will probably go for a later finish on the Saturday but there are still a lot of things we have to discuss.”The Creswick championship was the first championship held outside of Melbourne for 26 years.