Want to recieve exclusive news, videos, tournament highlights, golf important tips and more ?
Want to recieve exclusive news, videos, tournament highlights, golf important tips and more ?
After a disappointing 2023 on the secondary Challenge Tour, Derek Ackerman took a month off from the game before returning to Australia to play the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia rather than sitting through the winter in San Francisco.
Still with a two year winner’s exemption category following his victory at The National PGA Classic in 2022, Ackerman packed his bags and headed for warmer weather. The added benefits of a reunion with friends and competitive golf, including this week’s Webex Players Series Hunter Valley, a major draw card.
“It’s cool to be able to come back and enjoy the outdoors, not have to be cooped up inside when it is raining 10 inches a day,” he said at Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort.
“Honestly, I love playing out here and I was looking to find some form going into the middle part of 2024, because playing at your home course each day not competing, doesn’t really do much for you.”
Realising the competitive benefits of playing throughout the southern summer, Ackerman also knows of potential pathways to other Tours from playing well in Australia and New Zealand, while he is part of a growing regular presence of international players playing week in, week out.
One of three Americans in the mixed field this week in the Hunter Valley, alongside Kayla Thompson and Kyle Fraser, Ackerman and the U.S. contingent are part of 16 nations at the final Webex Players Series event for the 2023/24 season.
The San Francisco native who plays out of the famed Lake Merced Golf Club, doing his bit to perhaps drive more international flavour in future seasons at these events.
“I’ve tried to convince some guys to come out here and play as well. I think a lot of people are scared of the distance of playing in the States and here,” he joked.
“I know a lot of guys tend to play mini Tours back home, rather than come out here. But I think getting used to a full playing schedule on a worldwide recognised Tour is probably more important than to go and do pay to plays back home.
“I would love there to be more Americans out here, but I am totally fine with it just being myself.”
Part of Ackerman’s comfort this week has come with the annual embrace of his favourite sport outside golf.
A die hard San Francisco 49ers fan, Ackerman came up to the Hunter Valley region early Monday morning to watch his team in the NFL’s Superbowl, only to end the day disappointed after his side went down to the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime.
“Was pulling for my Niners that whole day, that tough stretch coming down, I just think Mahomes is too good … But I have faith in my Niners, they’ll win next year,” he said.
While his team might get their chance in 2025, Ackerman’s sporting focus now well and truly falls on his own performance and perhaps a continuation of the overseas dominance of the Webex Players Series events in 2024 after New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori’s hat-trick completed last week at Castle Hill Country Club.
The mix of holes requiring aggression and strategic golf at this week’s venue part of the overall appeal of golf on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia for the tall right hander.
“I think coming out here, experiencing some different conditions, different types of courses, it’s honestly really important in kind of seeing where my game is at.
“Really enjoy the people out here as well, so it has kind of become like a second home. It’s nice to come back here and play a season.”
Kazuma Kobori continued his remarkable run of form by claiming a third Webex Players Series title in 2024, this time in Sydney as he took back second place on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.
Losing second spot following the Vic Open to that week’s winner, and defending champion at this week’s Webex Players Series Hunter Valley Brett Coletta, Kobori is now in prime position to claim one of three DP World Tour cards offered via the season long points race.
Sitting behind Min Woo Lee on the back of the West Australian’s Australian PGA Championship victory and strong finish at the Australian Open, Kobori would nominally finish as No.1 if the season were to conclude now. Lee unlikely to play the minimum four events, so too Adam Scott and Marc Leishman who currently sit inside the top-10.
The New Zealander and Coletta have an eye on the New Zealand Open with its increased Order of Merit points, yet both are at Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort this week to further bolster their spot in the chase for pathways overseas.
Kobori’s plans echoing those of David Micheluzzi last season, with the pair managed by the same agency, SPORTFIVE, and the 22-year-old similarly opting for tournaments on his local circuit in lieu of Tour schools elsewhere.
“I made a pretty bold call this year not playing Asian Tour Q School, instead committing to other Tours and stuff, so pretty happy with how it’s going and then get my world ranking up and it would be pretty cool,” Kobori said.
“I won the first one and I think I was sitting like seventh or so. Then won the week after that and it bumped me up to second and the more you win, the more cushion you have.”
That cushion is currently 170.39 points over Coletta in third, with last season’s Order of Merit champion Micheluzzi in fourth, with the New Zealand Open and The National Tournament presented by BMW potentially on the horizon for the Victorian in a bid to guarantee his card on the DP World Tour again for next season.
Kobori admitting he is not one to ignore the points list with results taking care of delivering his desired result.
“I definitely have a look at it for sure, it’s one of those things where you’ve got New Zealand Open coming up so you know you can’t really set anything in stone,” he said.
“All you have to do is keep playing good golf and the better you play put here, the more learnings you can have out here, the better chance you can have at New Zealand Open.”
ORDER OF MERIT TOP-10
1 Min Woo Lee, 1,044.00 (points), 2 (events played)
2 Kazuma Kobori, 726.93, 9
3 Brett Coletta, 556.54, 12
4 David Micheluzzi, 359.40, 5
5 Ben Eccles, 358.35, 14
6 Jak Carter, 329.41, 14
7 Adam Scott, 326.67, 2
8 Kerry Mountcastle, 316.79, 15
9 Marc Leishman, 314.93, 2
10 Lachlan Barker, 303.74, 14
The Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and WPGA Tour of Australasia seasons roll on, this week heading north of Sydney to the famed wine and food region of the Hunter Valley.
Now in its third year, the Webex Players Series Hunter Valley is hosted by a pair of Australian golfing legends in Jan Stephenson and Peter O’Malley, with Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort once again welcoming a tremendous field.
Finally getting the chance to show off its best side after the two previous tournaments were hampered by heavy rain, the course is becoming familiar for the Tour’s regulars, even more so for those who competed in Jack Newton Junior Golf events here as youngsters.
“I know it really, really well. I’ve played here at least a good 20, 30 times. It’s a great place, I love coming back here, it’s always so nice,” Harrison Crowe said.
Crowe arrives off the back of a share of sixth at the Webex Players Series Sydney, where the rookie professional played in the last group alongside LPGA Tour winner Jenny Shin, but was unable to halt the hat-trick run of Kazuma Kobori.
“Obviously, it wasn’t exactly how I wanted it to go. I feel like I played alright, and honestly a couple of unlucky breaks, I don’t really like saying that,” Crowe said.
Spending time with coach John Serhan on the putting green last Friday evening after a frustrating day with the flatstick, Crowe noted the pressure putts failing to drop placed on the rest of his game last week. Something he was looking to address upon arrival in the Hunter region, where he spent significant time on the putting green.
“I know there is a lot of good stuff in there, just be patient for the putts to start dropping. I need Kazuma to give me some of his juice,” he said looking over at Kobori, who like Crowe spent most of Tuesday afternoon on the putting green in an ominous sign for the rest of the field.
Although working hard on his game, Crowe is also on something of a working holiday this week, with girlfriend Anna arriving from America on Sunday and taking the trip north with former NSW Open winner to fulfil a slightly unfamiliar role this week.
“I know it’s still golf and I will put in the work I need to put in, but it will be nice having a break from everything. I will have her on the bag this week, so it will be a fun little change … got to make sure I behave myself.”
Crowe mentioning a Valentine’s Day dinner plan and exploring the Hunter as part of the attraction to playing this week, which was also a strategic choice playing at home rather than utilising his new Asian Tour card at the Malaysian Open.
“Just trying to finish well in the Order of Merit here for starters. I know I will have a big year ahead in Asia and obviously want to kind of have a nice line up and heading into New Zealand Open that will probably be my first event,” he said.
Also with an eye towards the New Zealand Open, Kobori will again be one to watch this week as he attempts to win a fourth Webex Players Series title in 2024 and go one better than sister Momoka, who lost in a play-off to Aaron Pike here in 2022.
“I played Jack Newton actually back in I want to say 2018, and I narrowly lost to Hayden Hopewell by two. Got good vibes around this place,” Kobori said of Cypress Lakes.
Among the WPGA Tour of Australasia contingent, there is similarly plenty of course experience from junior golf and the previous two years, while Vic Open winner Ashley Lau will conclude her Australian trip at the venue where her fellow champion from 13th Beach, Brett Coletta, will defend his title.
A strong local presence also in the field, including Corey Lamb who works in the Pro Shop at Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort, and amateurs Jake Riley, Jye Pickin and Ella Scaysbrook, who was the junior winner at this event in 2021.
HOW TO FOLLOW
For live scoring and the latest news visit www.pga.org.au Exclusive content and tournament updates will also be posted regularly on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and WPGA Tour of Australasia social media channels.
Instagram: @pgatouraus, @WPGATour
Twitter: @PGAofAustralia, @WPGATour
Facebook: @PGATourAus, @WPGATour
Official hashtag: #WebexPlayersSeries
HOW TO WATCH
Round 3: Saturday 4pm-7pm AEDT
Round 4: Sunday 2pm-7pm AEDT
FORMER CHAMPIONS
2022: Aaron Pike
2023: Brett Coletta
COURSE RECORD
61, Brett Coletta (Round 4, 2023)
COURSE DESIGNER
Steve Smyers (1992).
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Kazuma Kobori, Three-time 2024 Webex Players Series winner
Ashley Lau, 2024 Vic Open winner
Brett Coletta, 2024 Vic Open winner and defending champion
Kelsey Bennett, 14th on 2023 LET Access Series Order of Merit
Harrison Crowe, 2022 Asia-Pacific Amateur and 2022 NSW Open winner
Justice Bosio, World No.65 ranked amateur and T13 at Webex Players Series Sydney
Jake McLeod, 2018 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner
Ella Scaysbrook, 2022 Webex Players Series Hunter Valley Junior winner
The New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport has announced that two of the Asian Tour’s most talented players will tee it up at Millbrook Resort between February 29 and March 3.
Jazz Jannewattananond from Thailand and Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho will both take to the fairways in Queenstown as part of the Asian Tour partnership. More than 40 Asian Tour players will compete at the New Zealand Open for ranking points towards the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit.
Tournament Director Michael Glading is excited to have Jannewattananond and Kho as part of the field and believes both have the goods to take the title.
“Jazz and Taichi are fantastic players and it’s great to have them come and play in the New Zealand Open. We are quite excited to have them both headline the Asian Tour field,” he said.
“Jazz has won seven times on the Asian Tour and is tied seventh for the most wins which shows his quality and ability. We’re delighted to have Jazz return after his fourth place finish at the 100th New Zealand Open back in 2019. He is one to watch for sure.
“And in the last 12 months Taichi collected huge accolades including being the first Hong Kong player to win an Asian Tour event, the first golfer from Hong Kong to play in the Open Championship, and more recently was awarded the Asian Tour Rookie of the Year. Taichi is clearly one of the most talented young players on tour.”
Newly married, Jannewattananond will be hoping to be amongst the top end of the field replicating the form that saw him come close to the New Zealand Open title back in 2019 where he claimed an outright fourth place, only three shots behind eventual winner Zach Murray.
Jannewattananond has been ranked as high as 38th in the world, earning him a place in the 2020 Masters Tournament.
“Having been to Queenstown before, I’m really looking forward to returning and this time will be extra special as I’ll be bringing my wife with me to experience one of the more beautiful places I have been to in the world,” said Jannewattananond.
“I remember Millbrook from my time there in 2019. It’s a terrific course and the views are breathtaking. Let’s hope I can make it into the winners circle as that would make for a fantastic second honeymoon.”
Kho had his breakthrough year on the Asian Tour in 2023, finishing ninth on their Order of Merit. His 2023 year was highlighted by a win at the World City Championship in only his fourth start as a professional and becoming the first player from Hong Kong to win on the Asian Tour.
A graduate of Notre Dame University in the USA, he only secured his Asian Tour card last year, and is fast becoming one of the leading players in South East Asia.
“It’s not my first time to Queenstown. I was the first alternative in 2023 and travelled down in the hope of getting to play, but didn’t get to start. Queenstown is very beautiful and was one of the most memorable places I have visited. To actually play it this year makes it even more special,” said Kho.
These two Asian Tour stars will be joined by other prominent Asian Tour players like Travis Smyth (ranked #4 in 2023), New Zealand’s own Ben Campbell (#5), Thai star Gunn Charoenkul (who ran sixth in the 2023 New Zealand Open) and American Berry Henson, who returns after a three year absence.
The 103rd New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport will take place at Millbrook Resort in Queenstown between February 29 and March 3, 2024.
For the third time this year, Kazuma Kobori ended a Sunday holding a Webex Players Series Trophy aloft, this time at Castle Hill Country Club after he emerged from a four-way tie for the lead after 54-holes.
Having had less than his best Saturday, Kobori was almost surprised to still hold a share of the Webex Players Series Sydney lead heading into the final round and steeled himself for a shoot-out that ended with a fairly comfortable trip into the clubhouse and a similarity with a legend of the game for the rising star.
Out in the second to last group alongside compatriot Kerry Mountcastle, Kobori birdied the par-3 2nd as his playing partner made bogey, with Harrison Crowe and Jenny Shin, the other two leaders, failing to convert birdie putts at the opening two holes.
At the uphill par-4 next, it was Mountcastle who threw the opening salvo when he holed out for an eagle two from 129 metres and caused Kobori some slight distress.
“It was really good until he just made it on 3. So that got me a bit rattled to say the least, and then it was good early on, because we were kind of trading birdies, he kind of withered away a bit at the end,” Kobori said of his playing partner.
The 22-year-old nearly had his own moment of magic at the par-3 4th when his bunker shot hit the flag, leaving a tap-in par. The Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia rookie making four birdies in the next five holes to pull in front as the charge of Mountcastle subsided. Crowe’s own push failing to eventuate, while Shin and veteran Brendan Jones emerged as the most likely to spoil Kobori’s hat-trick aspirations.
Turning at 23-under, Kobori would make just one more birdie at the par-4 13th, but was all but assured of the title when he tapped in for par at the 18th for a final round 66 and score of 24-under, with Shin the only player a chance to catch him after birdie at 17, her birdie at the last giving her second alone one back.
“Sounds very good to me,” Kobori said of the three-time Webex Players Series winner moniker. “It was one of those days where early on it just didn’t really click, but I knew if I just stayed patient, things were going to go my way and they did so I am very grateful.”
Also grateful was Jones, who although disappointed not to grab the trophy, believes his game and mind are in a good place for his 2024 season on the Asian Tour.
Finally working out his old home club’s front nine, including five straight birdies before the turn, Jones’ charge was halted by two back nine bogeys and missed birdie chances in just his second tournament after a six week break without touching a club.
“Did what I had to do on the front nine, then made a sloppy bogey on 10,” Jones said during a summation of his final round.
“Overall, two weeks back, 22-under, going to come second or third, that’s a good start.”
Noting her lack of sharpness, Shin was in good spirits as she hastily signed golf balls for some fans before departing for Thailand and the start of her LPGA Tour season. Her double bogey at the par-3 11th a key moment in her eventual second place.
“It’s not too awful, I obviously didn’t know it was a mixed event with men, so I am pretty happy,” Shin said.
Standing on the putting green watching Shin’s attempt to draw level, Kobori’s celebrations were fairly subdued, perhaps understandably for someone for whom winning has become a habit of late.
The former amateur star excited to learn his third win in his 10th start as a professional means he has the same win record as Tiger Woods at the same stage of his early life as a pro.
“Sounds good,” he said of hearing the statistic. “Probably need to get a few more wins under my belt, to be in the same conversation as that man, but it feels like I am on the right track.”
The other professional track Kobori is following is that of fellow SPORTFIVE managed player David Micheluzzi, who like Kobori skipped chances as Tour schools in favour of chasing a DP World Tour card on his home Tour. A card Kobori is almost guaranteed of locking up from the Order of Merit, where he is currently in second with three cards on offer.
“I made a pretty bold call this year not playing Asian Tour Q School, instead committing to other Tours and stuff, so pretty happy with how it’s going and then get my world ranking up and it would be pretty cool,” said Kobori, who for the second time this year will receive bonus points on the Official World Golf Rankings for multiple wins in one year.
More bonus points on offer if he were to become a four-time Webex Players Series winner next week in the Hunter Valley at a tournament his sister, Momoka, lost in a play-off two years ago.
“Four in a row would be good, I will be taking Monday-Tuesday off for sure. I’ll be taking it pretty light, but I don’t think I need to change too much.”
Also winning multiple Webex Players Series titles this year was Cameron Pollard who claimed a second All Abilities title for 2024, the New South Welshman finishing eight-over with an eight shot advantage over Lochie Smith.
“I have a lot of fun. Turning up playing golf, what more could you ask for. Winning especially is even better,” he said.
Playing alongside Crowe and Shin in the final group, Royal Canberra’s Harry Whitelock produced a mercurial performance to reach nine-under for two days and an 11 shot win over Rachel Lee in the Junior competition. The 16-year-old smiling ear-to-ear with father and caddie Steve after driving the par-4 16th green in front of a large crowd and going one better than last year at Bonnie Doon.
“It was so much fun today, and yesterday. The pros I played with were awesome, they were so accommodating of me and they really looked after me. It was heaps of fun.”
Saturday of the Webex Players Series Sydney started with rain for the early groups, then wind whipping up, meaning the low scores on offer all week became rarer. That wasn’t the case for Harrison Crowe, however, who shares the lead on 18-under with Jenny Shin, Kerry Mountcastle and Kazuma Kobori with 18 holes to play.
After threatening to go exceptionally low on Saturday, Crowe signed for a second straight 64 that once again could have been better.
Turning in 30 after four birdies and an eagle, the former amateur star slipped up at the par-3 11th with one of only two shots in the round that were noticeably mis-cued, the other a flared right second shot with 3-wood at the 18th.
Crowe’s three birdie back nine, including at the par-5 18th, after standing bobbing his head to Taylor Swift from a nearby marquee, putting him in a good mood as he headed for the hour long drive home.
“I hit it short of the water on 11. I just didn’t think the tree was in play, but it has been really good tee to green the last two days,” Crowe said with a smile.
“I think off the tee it’s been exceptionally good, just putting myself in spots and obviously got hot that front nine, and kind of slowed up a little on the back with a couple of missed putts.”
Missed putts has been the story of the last two days for Crowe, but there was improvement after a quick putting lesson from coach John Serhan on Friday that has the former NSW Open winner in a good headspace, and final group alongside Shin.
“You can really get stuck in that mindset that you’re not holing anything,” he said. “I did my best today at reassuring myself before the putt that if it doesn’t go in, or missed, it wasn’t me.”
Similarly finding frustration at times when missing birdie opportunities, including at the driveable 16th where she wanted to “helicopter” her putter, Shin struggled early during round three at Castle Hill Country Club.
Battling her body and the pulls, Shin talked through the issue with caddie/boyfriend and former Osteopath Zoot, before birdieing the last for 68.
“We kind of figured it out, I had like seven swing thoughts the last fourteen holes, but yeah dropped some putts. Felt like I should have made birdie on 16, really sad about that, but overall, pretty decent considering how windy it was,” Shin said.
The wind was also a factor for Mountcastle, who had a very up and down day including two eagles, five birdies, three bogeys and one double bogey for four-under 68.
“That was a very interesting day, the good was good and the bad was bad,” Mountcastle said.
“To keep myself in contention obviously, it was a pretty tough with the wind out there, so just to keep myself there or thereabouts where anything can happen.”
Keeping himself in contention included a lipped in birdie putt from 12 feet at the last, while in the same group, Kobori headed straight for the putting green after his own birdie attempt to lead alone from five feet failed to drop.
Having three bogeys of his own against six birdies, Kobori noted how much he is enjoying his elevated status and attention as a two-time Webex Players Series winner already in 2024.
His reflections on the toughest day he has experienced on course for a while perhaps an ominous warning for his three fellow leaders. So too the chasing pack that starts with Brendan Jones and Justin Warren three back on 15-under.
“It’s always like you are never as far away or you are never as good as you think you are in this game,” Kobori said.
“So, all I can do is figure out what I did today and there were definitely some key learnings that I will be taking into tomorrow. And then play how I have been playing for the last month, I’ve got the job done twice, so I kind of know what it takes, then go out there and do it.”
Despite Kobori’s recent form, Mountcastle will know better golf is ahead of him on Sunday, while Shin is a proven LPGA Tour winner and Crowe has looked on the verge of a special round all week.
Meanwhile, Jones will be hoping for a better Sunday front nine, while Warren is known to make birdies in bunches, and the likes of Braden Becker and James Gibellini on 14-under have already thrown low rounds in this week.
The veteran Jones perhaps summing up how Sunday will look for all of the congested leaderboard.
“At the end of the day I can’t do anything about anyone else, I just got to do my own thing,” he said.
In the Junior section, Harry Whitelock was the lone player to break par (two-under) and leads by two from Rachel Lee on even par, while Cameron Pollard looks in line for more success in the All Abilities field. His six-over score good for a seven shot advantage over Lochie Smith.
The career of Justin Warren has always been fascinating to observe. The prodigious hitter coming to a realisation after a disappointing finish to 2024 that could dramatically alter his trajectory.
Hailing from Picton in south-west Sydney, Warren’s talent for the game has never been questioned.
Not just a bomber off the tee, the 28-year-old is the type of player regularly described as having “great hands for a big man” yet results as a professional have been what could have been.
Personified by the New South Welshman’s missed putt from 18 inches to fall short of a spot at the 2021 Barracuda Championship on the PGA Tour.
Warren got redemption by qualifying into the same tournament the next year, however, once again it was a case of what could have been that kick started a new era as he finished 2023.
Right in the mix with Adam Scott at the Cathedral Invitational, Warren made a double bogey followed by a triple to drop out of the race for a career changing first place cheque.
“That’s golf, it’s just brutal,” he said at the time.
However, after a birdie chip bounced out of the hole for a 62 on Friday at the Webex Players Series Sydney, Warren reflected on the moment that saw him return in 2024 to earn playing rights on the Asian Tour last month.
“I think I just kind of realised that, obviously this is our profession, and this is what we do, and as much as we might say we don’t play for the money, at the end of the day, we play for money,” he said.
“I think a lot of those results like I had at Cathedral, not that I am choking or things like that, but it’s costing me a lot.
“I just kind of went ‘It’s just time to grow up and start being a professional and play some proper smart, professional golf’.”
Realising that minimising mistakes combined with taking opportunities is the key to success, Warren has certainly showed his new mindset at Castle Hill Country Club where he sits in a tie for fifth halfway.
The ‘new’ Warren even more clearly on display at qualifying for the Asian Tour where he was third and one of six Australians to earn their card for 2024 alongside Harrison Crowe, Sam Brazel, Lachlan Barker, Jordan Zunic and Maverick Antcliff.
“I just decided after the double-triple at cathedral, that it was time to mature and be a little bit smarter about the way I play and the way I handle myself on the golf course,” he said.
Where that attitude sees him finish in his home city before he departs for Asia as part of a seven week tournament run will play out over this weekend.
And if there is any doubt that the new mindset might curb Warren’s ability to go low, had his chip dropped for 62 on Friday, it would have been his third such score of 2024.
“I’ve had two 62s in the last four weeks, that would have been third,” he said with a wry smile on his face.
It was another day full of birdies at Castle Hill Country Club, as players threatened the 60 mark, but yet again it was the winner of the two previous 2024 Webex Players Series events, Kazuma Kobori, who will enter the weekend on top in Sydney.
After closing his opening round with seven straight birdies, the Kiwi was straight back into it with an eagle at the 1st hole on Friday. Kobori adding six more birdies to sign for a 64 and 15-under total.
The 22-year-old one clear of Kerry Mountcastle (65), Jenny Shin (67) and James Gibellini who had the round of the day, a 10-under 62, to make it a trio at 14-under.
“It was probably a better round of golf to be honest,” Kobori said.
“I stayed pretty patient for the most part out there, probably didn’t putt as good as yesterday on the stat sheet, but struck the ball really good. For most part had a pretty stress free round of golf.”
To watch the now three-time Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia winner go about his business of late has been something of a putting clinic, with Kobori believing his work with the flatstick could prove an advantage over the weekend.
A weekend when a shoot-out is anticipated on a layout Kobori fell in love with the moment he entered the gates.
“I really enjoy this course,” he said. “I walked up to the course I think it was Tuesday morning and you get courses where you just walk up and go ‘Okay, I kind of like this place’.”
Shin certainly had different feelings given she was unaware the Webex Players Series Sydney was a mixed event as she looks to prepare for her season on the LPGA Tour.
However, she was far more at ease in the format on Friday, even if she made her first bogeys of the week after what she described as a “brain fart” at 13.
“Way better, felt like riding a bike, I kind of knew exactly what to expect, which is why I think I started off pretty well,” Shin said comparing her 1st tee nerves from Thursday.
The Korean LPGA Tour winner chasing her first trophy since 2016 on Saturday and Sunday.
“I think a win is a win, and I’ve not won anything since 2016, so I don’t think it matters where I am, a win is always going to feel like the biggest accomplishment,” she said.
Mountcastle has far more recent memories of a win after his triumph late last year at the Gippsland Super 6.
“In a way it might have hindered me in terms of raising expectations, but then it also you know that you can go out and win,” Mountcastle reflected.
“It means that my good golf is good enough, it’s just being able to do it a bit more often.”
Gibellini’s expectations were also in an interesting place entering the week, having started 2024 with an optimistic mindset.
Missing the cut in two of three starts, Gibellini found magic on his back nine with five birdies in his last six holes for a career best 62 and share of second. A score perhaps more surprising given he is sleeping on the floor of a room packed with taxidermy.
“If you look at Vic Open, I think I was third last, so I was kind of a bit worried that I thought my game was good after Christmas, but I was bit worried. But this has shored it up a bit,” Gibellini said.
“I just thought, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing, keep giving yourself chances’. Never really tried to push.”
Perhaps less surprising was Justin Warren nearly matching the low round of the week. The New South Welshman signing for 63 after his birdie chip at his final hole of the day, the 9th, hit the pin and failed to drop and denied him a third 62 of the year.
Overnight co-leader Josh Armstrong is alongside Warren in a tie for fifth on 13-under, with home hope Daniel Gale lurking another shot back.
The low scores of the first two days giving the remainder of the chasing pack plenty of hope including Andrew Evans, Lincoln Tighe and Jeffrey Guan on 11-under, while Harrison Crowe was left with the unusual feeling of disappointment after an eight-under where he missed chances on his last five holes to sit in a six player group on 10-under.
Jenny Shin got something of a surprise when she arrived back in Australia for the Webex Players Series Sydney, however, neither she nor co-leader Josh Armstrong were shocked by their matching nine-under 63s on the opening day.
A winner on the LPGA Tour, Shin was in Australia for an extended holiday following the Australian Open before returning to America then coming back for what she thought was only a WPGA Tour of Australasia event.
“I didn’t even know it was a mixed event, and I didn’t even know I was playing against the men until I got here on Tuesday,” Shin said.
“My mindset went from it’s going to be fairly easy, to whoa, it’s actually going to be very difficult, I have to really focus.”
Focus she did, as the U.S. based Korean started with a birdie on the 10th, her first hole of the day.
Shin eventually signing for a bogey-free, nine-birdie round at Castle Hill Country Club, with playing partner Jake McLeod noting how easily Shin went about the score, so too tournament host Braith Anasta caddying for McLeod.
On the same side of the draw, Armstrong’s 63 featured more variation, with the long hitting New South Welshman making nine birdies, one eagle and two bogeys, including at the 9th, his final hole to fall back into a tie with Shin.
“To be fair, yes,” Armstrong said when asked if this sort of score was on the radar.
“Last week I had a bit of stomach bug, which didn’t help. But overall, the game’s feeling really good, I just haven’t really knocked on the door that much, so patience is a virtue I guess.”
Patience was also the name of the game for Kazuma Kobori.
The Kiwi sitting in a share of third on seven-under with compatriot Kerry Mountcastle after what could only be described as a tale of two nines.
Playing alongside Castle Hill’s own Daniel Gale and surround by a following of Gale’s fellow members, Kobori started his day with a double bogey, before turning in one-over on the course’s back nine. A nine holes where Gale recorded a four-under 32 that included two eagles and a triple bogey seven.
Kobori birdied the 1st to get back to even par, then closed his opening round with seven straight birdies, a feat the two-time Webex Players Series winner isn’t sure he has ever matched.
“I was pretty miserable, like great course, playing with Galey is always pretty fun, and I was like ‘You know what, let’s try a bit less, like 10 percent less, and have fun out there’,” Kobori said.
One back of Kobori and Mountcastle on six-under are four players, all of whom are playing with new feelings that helped their cause.
Jeffrey Guan and Andre Lautee put new drivers in play over the past week, while Brady Watt has a new putter and Jarryd Felton believes his wedding earlier this year to major champion Hannah Green has helped rediscover form.
“Maybe I got some of her golfing ability,” Felton joked. “But no, obviously the wedding was a few weeks ago now, it was an unbelievable day.
“It’s been really good, bit of weight of our shoulders for both of us, just kind of go with the flow.”
Behind Felton and Kobori sit 12 players on five-under, including Gale and the evergreen Peter Lonard who found some joy after adding loft to his driver on Wednesday afternoon to find more fairways.
The bunched group at five-under and large group another shot adrift with plenty of ground to make up on the leading pair, with Armstrong a potentially dangerous competitor as he continues to learn the ropes of professional golf.
“It’s very easy to think, ‘Why am I not in that position’. But at the same time, you kind of just keep doing your own thing. And I think I am starting to finally understand that, but I don’t know if I have fully got it yet,” Armstrong said.
Shin also a threatening front runner as a winner on the premier women’s Tour in the world, in a country she enjoys, with boyfriend Zoot Sanders-Vaughan playing caddie this week and likely with significantly less nerves due to the format come Friday’s second round.
“1st hole my adrenaline was pumping, I was almost shaking. I just have played tournament golf in like two months. My adrenaline was through the roof, I was very nervous, I didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of the boys,” Shin said.
Brendan Jones has plenty of reasons to rest on his laurels and reflect on a marvellous career. Instead, the Canberra based 48-year-old is teeing it up this week at the Webex Players Series Sydney after a T34 last week in the Vic Open as he prepares for a whole new experience as a member of the Asian Tour.
A winner of more than one billion Yen on the Japan Golf Tour, where he won 15 times, Jones has teed it up in majors, played the World Match Play against Tiger Woods, and yet he says his achievements aren’t something he regularly ponders.
“No I don’t think about it, maybe when my time is up, that’ll be the time to think about it,” Jones said Wednesday.
“But while I’m still out playing, and it’s nice to come out here and see the photo of me 20-odd years ago is still there, that sort of brings back a few memories.”
The photo Jones refers to is of a fresh faced member of Castle Hill holding the adidas Australian Amateur trophy aloft in 1999.
“It’s good to see a lot of people I haven’t seen for a long time. The golf course, the holes are still going in the same directions, there’s a few minor changes,” he said.
The local knowledge of Castle Hill will combine with fond memories of the Webex Players Series Sydney for Jones, who after taking up a job as a landscaper during COVID returned to competitive golf at this event in 2022, only to lose in a play-off to Jarryd Felton.
Jones admitting his time away slightly fuelled his competitive fires, although finding himself mostly content with how life after golf looked.
“I was happy, I wasn’t missing golf at all. The only thing I missed about golf was the big cheques every now and then. Forty hours a week landscaping and seeing the cheque I was getting at the end of each week was not cutting the mustard,” he joked.
Jones’ return to his regular day job did indeed yield one of those larger cheques, with his win at the 2023 New Zealand Open not only delivering prizemoney and another trophy, but also his playing rights on the Asian Tour. An experience he is looking forward to immensely.
“Looking forward to it because I’m going to be going to places that I haven’t been before.
“Playing on the Japanese Tour for 20 years, you get used to playing the same courses, going to the same places, eating the same food, sitting at the same chair in a pub, going to the same restaurant and sitting at the same table.
“Seeing some new things before my game goes away from me. It’s quite exciting to be honest.”
The game leaving Jones might be on his mind, but recent form suggests he might be in for a long wait. And with his experience around his former home course and success starting the year in the past, his younger competitors might see just that this week.
“Generally, for me, when I start a season, I’m fresh, I feel quite good and I’ve forgotten about the rubbish that I was dealing with the year before, it seems like this year’s no different.
“I felt like I played quite well last week down in Victoria, and hopefully building to something and with the added excitement of going to new places and playing new golf courses, who knows what can happen.”
