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Kelsey Bennett has ended her year travelling the globe with just rewards by claiming playing rights on the Ladies European Tour (LET). Multiple Australians doing the same at the final stage of Asian Tour qualifying that concluded on the weekend.
Bennett spent the year chasing status through the European circuit’s feeder Tour the LET Access Series, where she won the Hauts de France Pas de Calais Golf Open in September to finish 10th on the Order of Merit.
Earning some LET starts via her finish on the Order of Merit, Bennett returned overseas for Qualifying School after contesting events at home, including the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, in the hope of securing full status and a more certain schedule in 2025.
Played over five rounds in Morrocco, players finishing inside the top-20 would earn status for next season, Bennett bouncing back from a third round of 76 with 67-69 on the final two days to share 19th and guaranteeing her place on the LET in 2025.
Fellow Australians Maddison Hinson-Tolchard (25th), Justice Bosio (57th) and Belinda Ji (101st) fell outside the top-20, while Kiwi Amelia Garvey finished fourth to earn her card on the Tour that will play three straight weeks in Australia starting at the 2025 Australian WPGA Championship held at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club.
There was similar success at the final stage of Asian Tour Qualifying School in Thailand, where Jack Thompson finished in tied fourth and three of his compatriots claimed one of 35 cards available for the 2025 season.
A winner of the final stage two years ago, Thompson headed back to qualifying after playing the 2024 season in Asia and will be joined by the returning Todd Sinnott, who finished in tied 10th with new Asian Tour member Lawry Flynn from Queensland.
Queenslander Brett Rankin one shot ahead of the players earning the final spots with a closing 68 to be tied for 23rd on 11-under.
New Zealand’s Denzel Ieremia also earning status alongside Thompson, who managed four of five rounds in the 60s, including a closing 68.
“To get back is great. I would have liked to have finished today off a bit better, but at the end of the day I got my card back,” Thompson told the Asian Tour’s website.
“Everything’s just been really good. I’ve sort of ended the year playing decently, and I had eight days off just to relax before here because I just played so much. But I mean, it never really disappears like that, so yeah, I’m happy with that.”
On the DP World Tour, Daniel Gale was the lone Australian representative and flew the flag proudly with the new member finishing in a tie for 28th on 4-under-par at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
The adidas PGA Pro-Am Series wrapped up for 2024 with six players finishing tied at the top to head to the festive break with some extra spending money after the Stockland The Gables 2024 Pro-Am.
A field featuring multiple Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia players descended on Lynwood Country Club in Sydney’s west for the two day event where Dillon Hart, Christopher Wood, Josh Armstrong, Samuel Slater, Scott Arnold and James Conran emerged victorious.
Somewhat remarkably, none of the six eventual winners had shared the lead after Round 1, before finishing on a 36-hole total of 3-under 141, with Hart authoring the biggest second round swing by improving his score by five shots for a 68.
HOW THE WINNING ROUNDS UNFOLDED
In windy conditions with penalising rough punishing wayward driving and greens rolling 11-feet on the stimpmeter, it was about minimising mistakes, with all six winners still having their moments during the final round.
For Hart, he mixed five birdies with one bogey, his most important birdie coming at the par-3 17th having dropped a shot two holes earlier, while Wood got off to an up and down start with back-to-back birdies to start the round negated by a double bogey at the fifth. The Queenslander making three birdies on the back nine, including at the 18th to join the winning group.
Armstrong’s length off the tee would have felt like a weapon as he reached the closing stretches, with two par-5s in the last three holes, but the Concord Golf Club member could only manage pars having also bogeyed the 15th.
Queenslander Slater is another with prodigious length, and used it on his way five birdies in his first 10 holes, but the par-5 16th saw him go from 5-under with victory on his own in his sights back to 3-under.
Now spending 40 hours a week in a Pro Shop, Arnold saved his best for last to get a share of the spoils having matched every one of his three birdies with a bogey throughout the final day. Arnold birdieing the 18th for a second day in a row to join the large winners’ picture.
Conran also needed birdie at the last to reach 3-under and victory, with the New South Welshman coming home strongest of the winning six. Double bogey at the sixth was mixed with eight pars on the front nine before Conran made four birdies in seven holes to finish his competitive year.
WHAT THE WINNERS SAID
Scott Arnold: “I think the course in great nick, and it’s set up pretty well for sort of an event like this, so it is pretty scoreable. There was a bit of wind yesterday and a bit of wind today and the pins are a bit tricky so it sort of made scoring a bit tough but I’m really pleased with how I played considering I’m spending 40 hours a week in a shop now and not really doing any practise.”
Josh Armstrong: “Very ready for a break. I feel like I’ve been playing okay. It’s sort of been frustrating because I’ve been making a lot of silly decisions, but definitely a little bit of that yesterday. But I did that up a little today and played pretty solidly all day. I’ve got good memories here. I spend a lot of time out here. I always enjoyed coming back.”
James Conran: “I mean, Lynwood is always enjoyable to play. It’s always in pretty good condition. The greens are pretty true. It’s just been a bit of a bother with the wind the last two days and the heat, but the course presented itself pretty good.”
Dillon Hart: “Just found some form in my swing. Made an adjustment with the coach and yeah, started to find ball striking, which sort of led into some putting stuff that’s come off as well and starting to build a conference with it.”
Samuel Slater: “The big goal for me is actually getting a Tour category for next year. That’s the main thing I’ve been focusing on. So playing these Pro-Ams and playing well in Tour events as well. So hopefully we can get a couple more decent results on the board.”
Christopher Wood: “Definitely nice to have a win in the last event of the year. To be honest, the year’s been a bit slow, but it was nice to sort of play well the last couple of weeks and finish it off here with a win.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
T1 Dillon Hart 141
T1 Christopher Wood 141
T1 Samuel Slater 141
T1 Josh Armstrong 141
T1 Scott Arnold 141
T1 James Conran 141
T7 Joseph Owen 142
T7 Nathan Barbieri 142
T7 Andrew Richards 142
NEXT UP
The adidas PGA Pro-Am Series is now in its Christmas and New Year break and returns to action on January 3 at Harcourts Langwarrin Pro-Am @ Settlers Run.
He was already a bona fide celebrity at Willunga Golf Club in Adelaide but the golf world couldn’t get enough of Steve Alderson following his emotional victory at a G4D Tour event in Spain.
Affectionately known as ‘Spud’ for his love of chips, Alderson became the first person with autism to win a G4D Tour event, taking out the G4D Tour @ Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters by an incredible nine strokes.
Yet it was not so much his performance on the golf course that caused people to fall in love with his story, but his emotional post-round speech where he spoke about his struggles with bullying and was interviewed live on The Today Show just hours after finishing his round.
Winner of the Webex All Abilities Players Series event at Willunga in 2023, Alderson returned home to a hero’s welcome and interest from global media organisations.
As he prepared to defend his Willunga win in October, Alderson spoke with golf magazines, radio stations and CNN International, completing an extraordinary two-week period with a second Webex All Abilities Players Series victory at Willunga.
But it didn’t end there.
‘Spud’ won the net event at the G4D Tour Series Finale in Dubai and then made his debut at the Australian All Abilities Championship at Kingston Heath Golf Club in conjunction with the ISPS HANDA Australian Open.
It stands as a pathway or purgatory. Sitting one rung below the promised land, secondary tours the world over are the equivalent of quicksand: The longer you stay there, the harder it is to get out.
Queenslander Cassie Porter had two top-10s and finished 54th in the Race for the Card standings in her rookie season on the Epson Tour in 2023, the primary pathway to the LPGA Tour.
It gave her the grounding to push ahead in her second season, a year in which she broke through with a one-stroke victory at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek, Michigan.
From that moment forward, Porter was in position to secure one of the 15 cards to the LPGA Tour in 2025 yet wasn’t guaranteed until after the final round of the Epson Tour Championship.
A 5-under-par round of 66 in Round 3 elevated Porter from 42nd to 22nd on the Tour Championship leaderboard, a 2-under 69 in the final round enough to end the week tied for 17th and claim the 10th of the LPGA Tour cards on offer.
By moving inside the top 10, Porter receives the Category 9 exemption category on the LPGA Tour next year while those who finish 11-15 earn the Category 15 exemption category.
A third-place finish in the opening event of the season was the ideal start to 2024 for Porter, who had two additional top-10s along with her victory to join fellow Aussies Hannah Green and Gabriela Ruffels as recent graduates of the Epson Tour.
Unheralded. Under-appreciated. Under the radar. Unperturbed. You might win a bet if you ask your golf mate to name the lone Aussie to win on the PGA TOUR in 2024, but Cam Davis is chasing trophies, not public recognition.
Yes, he would have dearly loved a Presidents Cup appearance at Royal Montreal having been part of the Internationals team two years prior, but Davis achieved a special career milestone with a second PGA TOUR title this year at the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club.
With putts repeatedly burning the edge of the hole and a lasered second shot into the par-5 14th that somehow dribbled into the water late on Sunday, it looked as though the golf gods would conspire against Davis.
Fellow Australian Min Woo Lee (69) made a back-nine charge to earn a share of the lead at 18-under but made bogey on the final hole when his approach shot finished in the rough behind the green and he was unable to get up-and-down for par.
Davis, too, needed to scramble from the rough on 18 for a 2-under 70 to claim the clubhouse lead at 18-under, Akshay Bhatia’s par miss on the 72nd hole handing a stunned Davis a treasured win.
The fact that it came at the same venue as his first win three years earlier was another element of serendipity for the 29-year-old New South Welshman who now spends the majority of his year in Seattle.
In his winner’s press conference, Davis revealed how at the suggestion of his wife, Jonika, Davis had undertaken two weeks of hypnotherapy in the lead-up to his one-stroke victory.
Read: https://pga.org.au/news/aussies-on-tour-davis-stunned-by-second-pga-tour-title/
Davis was also part of one of the most compelling storylines for Aussies in 2024 after he and Adam Scott faced off in a playoff at US Open qualifying at Springfield, Ohio.
It took three holes for Davis to best one of his childhood heroes, threatening to bring to an end Scott’s streak of 91 consecutive majors.
Scott ultimately received an exemption by the USGA on the Monday of the tournament, his record now standing at 93 majors and counting.
Such was Josiah Gilbert’s performances playing for Auburn University in the NCAA in 2024, there is a tug-of-war taking place in Gilbert’s mind as to which country he will represent during his professional career.
Gilbert’s US college season was highlighted by a historic NCAA Division 1 championship for Auburn, the first in the school’s history,
He was twice named SEC Golfer of the Week and won the Valero Texas Collegiate Individual Champion title. In addition, Gilbert claimed the individual gold medal at the Spirit International where he partnered Kai Komulainen as Australia finished third in the men’s competition.
Born in Queensland, Gilbert grew up in Perth and established himself as one of the state’s most promising juniors.
Early in the COVID pandemic, Gilbert’s American parents decided to return to their home country, in part to help foster their son’s ambitions in golf.
Such has been his success, the 20-year-old dual citizenship holder is now weighing up where to pledge his allegiance.
Photo: Courtesy Auburn University
For the first time in tournament history, extra holes were required to decide a winner of any category at Geoff Ogilvy’s Sandbelt Invitational, with Ryan Peake triumphing over David Micheluzzi at Royal Melbourne to claim the overall prize.
Joined at the presentation by Kayun Mudadana, Caitlin Peirce and Amelia Harris as winners of the men’s amateur and women’s pro and amateur sections respectively, it was all eyes on Peake as he defied a back nine struggle to lift the trophy.
Having jokingly asked members of the following crowd for the best lines off some of The West Course’s tees having last played the course as a 14-year-old, Peake limped into the clubhouse in regulation, including bogeying the 72nd hole after authoring a remarkable start to Thursday’s final round.
Three straight birdies from the first tee were followed by an eagle at the fourth and another birdie at the fifth as Peake made the turn in 6-under on a day when Royal Melbourne member Tom Power Horan equalled the professional course record of 63.
West Australian Peake signing for a 67 and 3-under total before having some lunch as he waited for what he thought was a foregone conclusion of Micheluzzi winning the title.
“Seventeen years ago, I think. So I can’t remember anything,” Peake said of when he last played Royal Melbourne.
“I mean, that front nine was pretty straightforward. What you see is what you get. Obviously, I’d just done everything right, not knowing that I was doing everything right. Just I guess a bit of luck my way.
“Then on that back nine, you’ve got to play this course a bunch of times to know your lines, know what’s good, what’s bad. I made I think three bogeys and a double out of nowhere, and I didn’t really feel like I hit bad shots.
“To be honest, I’m a bit lost for words. I’m still trying to figure it all out myself. I don’t really know what happened there, but you’ve got to expect that when you’ve never played it before.”
Far more experienced around what many consider the best course in Australia, and a previous winner at Royal Melbourne, it was another day of Micheluzzi’s score not necessarily reflecting the quality of his play, with the DP World Tour player 2-under through 16 holes before finishing bogey-bogey to match the 3-under mark and head back for the 18th tee.
Peake finding the fairway, while Micheluzzi’s tee shot missed right and found a sandy lie that resulted in a 60 metre wedge for this third as Peake found the front left portion of the green.
Micheluzzi taking two putts, but unable to send it to more extra holes after his left handed opponent rolled in his second putt to celebrate his first victory as a pro with one hole fill-in caddie Jye Pickin.
“I mean, events turned around really quickly. I guess when you’re in that position, you just expect the best and I guess hope for the worst, but expect the best. And ‘Micha’ being Micha I’m like, ‘Oh, he’s going to make a par,” Peake said of the closing stages.
“I went to the bar and I bought the boys a round of beers and the refs come in and just said, ‘Mate, you’re required for a play-off’.
Peake speaking again of his plan to enjoy the event and Sandbelt as a first priority having spoken with coach Ritchie Smith about how quickly things can turn.
“I mean, it’s a bit of self-belief. I mean, you can only beat who you’re playing against, but I think just in an event like this, like I said, at the start of the week, I really just wanted to embrace the whole, the Sandbelt culture and just really enjoy being out here.
“Even when things weren’t going my way, I was still really enjoying it. I knew what I was here for, but to get an invitation into something like this that not many people get, and then to be able to play some good golf as well.
“My coach, Ritchie Smith, he said I’m pretty much in the same predicament as Elvis (Smylie). It was so close to switching. You just don’t know when, and then Elvis just went bang, bang, bang … He told me after a missed cuts at the Open and PGA. He said, just hang in there. Because it’s so close to switching.”
Peake joking earlier in the week that he would need to win to pay for his pricey Monday night dinner. Perhaps less of a concern when he returns to the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia at the Webex Players Series Perth at Royal Fremantle in early January.
“I’m not too sure what the whole thing is,” he said of the potential cash injection from winning.
“I haven’t looked too into it, but that trophy looks amazing. I think it’s a pretty unique and a pretty special one. So yeah, that’s the only thing I really kind of thought about. If I was to win, I just really wanted that trophy.”
Matias Sanchez finishing third alone on 1-under and one shot ahead of Cam John and Richard Green, with Mudadana on 1-over and taking plenty away from the week.
“It was going to be always tough having never played here, but I started pretty well,” Mudadana said.
“I was two through eight and missed a short part on nine and made bogey on 10. I was a bit on a back foot there, but it’s all right. I had a lot of fun out there.”
Peirce closing out her week with a 70 to finish 6-over for a second triumph since turning pro in November.
“Not really, but it’s nice to get the wins,” she said when asked if she was finding professional golf easy having won a NSW Women’s Open Regional Qualifier in recent weeks.
“It was more being able to play four rounds on four good Melbourne Sandbelt courses. I played it twice as an amateur, so playing it as a pro, I guess the money’s a little bit of a bonus, but the format and the places you get to play is probably the key highlight of it.”
Headed for a drive back to Adelaide tomorrow, Peirce will take only a slight break before teeing it up across the Australian summer and heading for the Epson Tour in America.
It will be a similar story for Harris heading into year 12 with her eyes on the adidas Australian Amateur on the Sandbelt in January before moving to America and the University of South Carolina.
“It feels really great to be able to get the title back. Obviously it feels great playing against really good amateurs, but it’s as special as my first win,” Harris said.
“I think it helps boost my confidence a lot. I hadn’t been playing good as of recent, so I think winning this is really going to help me in my big tournaments.
Tournament host Ogilvy surmising a fourth successful staging of his and “Tournament Director” Mike Clayton’s brainchild having taken in all the action over four days.
“It was unique for me to watch on this year and truly host the Sandbelt Invitational and I have loved the experience,” Ogilvy said.
“The courses and clubs have been magnificent, and our four champions exemplify the word.”
“Hearing Ryan’s words about the event is exactly why we do this.”
Final scores available at www.sandbeltinvitational.com
It was hands down the best season by any Australian without a win in 2024.
In his second year as a full-time member of the PGA TOUR Champions, Victorian Richard Green was in the hunt for the season-long Charles Schwab Cup until the very last hole, despite not logging a single victory.
His year began with back-to-back top-10 finishes but it was at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship where Green’s season of near misses took flight.
Read: https://www.golf.org.au/aussies-on-tour-green-second-again-on-champions-tour/
That would be the first of five runner-up finishes on the year – two of which came in major championships and one in a playoff loss to Steve Stricker at the Sanford International.
Seventeen years after setting a new course record in the 2007 Open Championship, Green returned to Carnoustie for The Senior Open Championship and finished second to KJ Choi by two strokes.
Read: https://pga.org.au/news/aussies-on-tour-bennett-wins-green-second-again/
He was also third at the US Senior Open Championship, the 53-year-old amassing $US2,168,079 in prize money without any additions to the trophy cabinet.
Photo: Phil Inglis/Getty Images
Despite admitting his score could be substantially better, David Micheluzzi shares the lead at the 2024 Sandbelt Invitational on 3-under with amateur Kayun Mudadana ahead of the final round at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
Signing for a 2-under 69 at Woodlands Golf Club on Wednesday, 2022/2023 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner Micheluzzi will be chasing a second triumph at Royal Melbourne after claiming the Master of the Amateurs at the famed course in 2018.
Micheluzzi admitting that if things were to go his way tomorrow it would be extra special due to his relationship with tournament host and 2006 US Open winner Geoff Ogilvy.
“It would also be really cool if I did, because Geoff has been a mentor, how he’s helped me out quite a bit, but he’s helped me out more than people know it with turning pro and what to expect,” Micheluzzi said.
“To have a major champion like him giving that advice. You can’t pay for that kind of stuff, that experience. So that would mean the world if I did get up … it would be sick.”
The Sandbelt Invitational itself is designed around the same concept of experienced players interacting with younger ones across men and women from both pro and amateur ranks.
Some, like Mudadana, clearly comfortable in the environment, where parts of the learning is through conversation while also visually from the likes of Richard Green, who fired the equal low round of the day.
The left hander’s 65 only matched by Cameron John, with Green at 1-under for the tournament and one shot back of fellow Victorian Matias Sanchez after his 1-under round at Woodlands.
Green continuing to knock the rust off his game after only playing nine holes with his dog for company since ending his tremendous 2024 PGA TOUR Champions campaign, where he came agonisingly close to a win.
“I’ve had good coaching over the last probably five or six years with Darrell Brown, and we’ve worked on a lot of things that have squared my golf swing up,” Green said of his impressive play despite a break.
“As opposed to prior to that I was all over the place. My game’s up and it’s down and it’s up and it’s down. Whereas my game’s more on an even keel and a lot closer to playing really well.
“To win would be great for my confidence going into next year and in some way wouldn’t surprise me with how I’ve played this year, to be honest.”
Perhaps surprising some as co-leader through 54-holes, Mudadana is certainly not planning on making way for Micheluzzi, Green or Sanchez, who as a Royal Melbourne member would love to lift the trophy on Thursday.
A New South Wales Golf Club member who has been spending his time on the driving range with the course closed for renovations, Mudadana looked likely to lead on his own with 18 holes to play until the closing stages of his 1-under 70.
“I was playing good. I was 5-under through 15 and hit a bit of a shocking tee shot of 16 and made triple,” Mudadana said.
“Just worrying about playing good golf and sort of enjoying the course. It’s been a lot of fun when you’re just not really worrying about it and yeah, just that’s how I sort of play it,” he added when asked about the names he sits ahead of that includes a congested group behind Green.
Sandbelt local Matt Griffin, 36-hole leader Ryan Peake and NSW Amateur winner Declan O’Donovan, who was tied for the lead until a triple-bogey at the 18th, all at even par and sharing fifth.
Cam John the next best at 1-over and one in front of American-based amateur Niall Shiels Donegan and one of Woodlands’ favourite sons Steve Allan.
Amateur Annika Rathbone in a share of 11th at 4-over and leading the women’s contingent, with Amelia Harris and Shyla Singh two shots back and Tour player Karis Davidson on 7-over trying to claim the women’s trophies.
Harris getting a good window into what the field faces tomorrow as they attempt to deny Micheluzzi another win after playing the third round with the man who shot 59 in preparation for this event.
Preparation that alongside Micheluzzi’s assessment of his week so far provides an ominous warning for his competition.
“I really, almost every day this week, felt like I should have been five or six (shots) better every round, which speaks volumes of all the swings, changes and the confidence I’ve got in all my swing changes.”
Full scores available at www.sandbeltinvitational.com
Fresh off his best Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia finish of the season at the Gippsland Super 6, West Australian Ryan Peake has taken the halfway lead at the Geoff Ogilvy hosted Sandbelt Invitational.
Moving to Yarra Yarra Golf Club from Commonwealth, Peake emerged best from another tough day on the Melbourne Sandbelt when the wind blew and he signed for a 2-under-par 68 to reach 4-under overall.
Peake leading by one from amateur Declan O’Donovan, with Asian Tour player Kevin Yuan and overnight co-leader Kayun Mudadana at 2-under before a trio of Victorian pros in David Micheluzzi, Matias Sanchez and Harry Goakes round out the under par scores on 1-under.
Battling through fatigue one of the challenges for Peake as he reaches the Christmas break after travelling around Australia and beyond, with the left hander also having to overcome two bogeys at the second and third on Tuesday.
“I think obviously a lot of guys were happy to finish last week. Everyone’s just mentally fatigued. They’re worn out,” Peake said.
“Myself, this is the first year I’ve had a category, so it’s the first year I’ve been able to play that massive run of summer events. I’m getting tired, but when I got the opportunity to play I was like, ‘Well I can just push my body a little bit more’.
“It’s top courses that you never want to turn down to play, but I think it’s going to be the perfect warm down for me as well because it’s a little bit more of a relaxed event.”
Noting the atmosphere of the unique event where male and female professionals and amateurs compete alongside one another, Peake spoke after his round of trying to instil confidence in the amateurs as well as enjoying the Sandbelt region having not fully appreciated the famed courses first time around.
“When I came into this week, honestly, I just wanted to embrace the Sandbelt,” he said.
“I took it for granted when I was younger, so I wanted to come out and just observe the architecture.
“At the start of the year, I was working as a greenkeeper at Royal Perth doing some of Michael Clayton’s redesigns out there. So actually getting to see that side of things … they have a vision of what it looks like, so being a part of that as well now is just quite cool to actually soak it all in and know exactly know it’s all about.”
Hailing from Avondale Golf Club in Sydney’s north, O’Donovan might not be quite looking at the venues as much as Peake as he continues a special summer that included playing the opening two rounds of the Ford NSW Open with Lucas Herbert and Cam Smith as the reigning NSW Amateur champion.
Speaking of the learnings from that week, O’Donovan’s opinion of this week and further chances to gain insights from more experienced players in a competitive environment falling exactly into line with the goals of Ogilvy and fellow tournament creator Clayton.
“It doesn’t change at all,” O’Donovan, who had the equal low round of the day (65) with Goakes, said of his goal entering this week. “I mean probably even I’d have even more of a feeling of wanting to win because there’s bigger names than most amateur events.
“There’s a tonne of guys that I want to beat this week, but I think if I just focus on what I’m doing, I worry about other scores later on.”
It was a similar thought for his fellow Sydney amateur Mudadana who admitted he didn’t even look at the leaderboard after leaving the course on Monday, before following up his 5-under first round with a 3-over 73 to sit in a tie for third.
“The last year I’ve really learned how to just grind it out and even if you’re having not the best day, sort of have an okay score,” Mudadana said.
“Being low amateur is definitely a good goal. I’d really hope to get that and hopefully play some good golf. But yeah, playing alongside the pros, just trying my best to play as good as them, if not better, is really good opportunity here.”
In his first year as a pro, and after a tough run on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, Goakes is enjoying the chance to play competitive golf on the Sandbelt where he grew up as a Royal Melbourne member. His round of 65 including nine birdies and even a par with a dreaded shank on the 13th.
Two shots further back on 1-over is amateur Amelia Harris, who leads the women’s contingent of both pros and amateurs having first come to prominence at this event in 2021 when 14 years old and playing with Peter Fowler.
Yarra Yarra member Harris one in front of adidas Australian Amateur winner Shyla Singh with Karis Davidson another shot back on 3-over.
“Obviously I’m trying to win. That’s the goal that everyone else has, but have fun as well and do my best because all the best amateur girls are here,” Harris said.
“I knew it was going to be a tough week, so hopefully a couple good days. The next couple days will be good and see where I end up.”
Those next couple of days will see the tournament head to Woodlands Golf Club for the first time on Wednesday before the conclusion on the West Course at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club, where Peake’s Sandbelt appreciation could go to another level if he continues with the play that has delivered the 36-hole lead.
Full scores at www.sandbeltinvitational.com
