An ace at the 144-metre par-3 third was the major highlight in Richards’ round of 7-under 64, good enough to finish one clear of Victorian Nathan Page (65) with Josh Clarke (66) and Aiden Didone (66) sharing third.

With his driver wayward for much of the round, Richards leant on his wedge play to post a score in the morning wave, including a perfectly executed pitching wedge at the third hole.

“I hit a pitching wedge,” Richards said of the club selection that yielded his ace.

“I was in between clubs; had 9-iron and then switched back to the pitching wedge and gave it a good hit.

“I couldn’t see it, couldn’t see where the hole was exactly but it landed about eight feet behind it and spun back in.”

Pick it out of the hole and pose.

Congrats to Andrew Richards on his hole-in-one on the 144m 3rd hole at Waratah Golf Club in today's Waratah Pro-Am.#adidasPGAProAmSeries pic.twitter.com/Egx0F3bn4X

— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) February 28, 2024

HOW THE ROUND UNFOLDED

Two bogeys in his opening five holes gave little indication of the fireworks that were to follow.

Starting his round from the 10th tee, Richards made bogey at 10 and 14, offset slightly by a birdie at the par-5 12th.

A birdie on 16 allowed the 27-year-old to make the turn at even par and then he unleashed a scoring blitz on the Waratah Golf Club front nine.

Birdies at one and two were trumped by the ace on three, adding further birdies on five, seven and nine for a front nine of 7-under 28 and a breakthrough win.

Nathan Page had a hot streak in the middle of his round of 6-under 65, peeling off five birdies in six holes around the turn to snare outright second.

WHAT THE WINNER SAID

“The course was soft but you could tell that the greens were going to be spinning but they held up really well all day.

“I hit a lot of good wedges today. Early on I hit some pretty bad drives so I would pitch it out and then pitch it close.

“I only hit one fairway on the par 5s and I made par on that one.

“Just wedging it close and being tidy around the greens.”

LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1          Andrew Richards          64
2          Nathan Page                65
T3        Josh Clarke                   66
T3        Aiden Didone              66
5          Nathan Miller               67
T6        Jason Perkin                 68
T6        Jayden Cripps              68

NEXT UP

The adidas PGA Pro-Am Series remains in the NSW Hunter Valley on Thursday for the Great Northern Toukley Pro-Am at Toukley Golf Club before returning to Melbourne on Friday for the De Bortoli Heidelberg Golf Club Pro-Am at Heidelberg Golf Club.