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Tournament officials, the PGA of Australia and the Lae Golf Club Tournament Committee have made the decision to cancel the staging of the 2024 PNG Senior Open.
The 54-hole PGA Legends Tour event worth $80,000 was due to begin on Friday but Round 1 was cancelled after the course received 91mm of rain on the eve of the tournament.
The weather system intensified on Friday with a further 190mm of rain falling on the golf course between 6am and 5pm.
With further rain expected into Sunday, the decision was made at 4pm on Saturday afternoon to cancel the event completely.
“The current course condition and forecast weather system has cast a continued negative synopsis,” officials said in communication with players.
“This decision is based on the ability to conduct the event proper, including a composite course, and other alternatives.
“Consideration for player and course welfare was paramount in the decision-making process, whilst upholding the status and integrity of the event.”
“All feasible options to run the event were explored, factoring in all stakeholders, most notably, all professionals.”
The next event on the PGA Legends Tour schedule is the two-day LDC Moree Legends Pro-Am at Moree Golf Club from September 19-20.
A three-year adidas PGA Pro-Am Series drought ended for Steven Jeffress who revealed his PGA Tour Champions ambitions after he won the Ledonne Constructions Grafton Pro-Am today.
A 6-under-par 66, including birdies on his final two holes, gave the 48-year-old a one-shot margin over fellow Queenslander Dillon Hart and NSW Northern Rivers local Sam Brazel.
Although he doesn’t play competitively as much as he used to, and couldn’t quite remember his last pro-am victory, Jeffress had shown that a win might not be far off when he finished T4 at Kooralbyn Valley last month and then claimed a share of second at McLeod in Brisbane on Tuesday.
“I haven’t played a lot the last couple of years but the last month and a half I’ve actually started to do a bit of work on my game,” Jeffress said.
“I’ve been putting some hours in and it’s good to see it working.
“I want to keep playing because my overall goal is, at the end of next year, to go to Champions Tour Q-School in the States.
“Looking at how some of our Aussies like David Bransdon and Michael Wright have done it, you need to keep playing and competing before you hit 50.”
National Pro-Am Order of Merit leader Brett Rankin, who won at Grafton last year, finished in a share of fourth.
HOW THE WINNER’S SCORE UNFOLDED
Jeffress’s winning round featured seven birdies and the solitary bogey.
He started fast with a three on the par-4 third before dropping a shot two holes later.
Birdies then arrived with regularity at the sixth, ninth, 11th and 14th to move him to 4-under before the win was secured with back-to-back birdies on his final two holes.
An eight-metre putt secured a two on the 135m par-3 first and a two-putt after hitting the green with a 5-iron approach produced the winning birdie on the 462m par-5 second
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
Jeffress said: “The plan was that there was no plan apart from hitting good shots and the shots I wanted to hit.
“I figured 5-under wasn’t going to be enough. When you’ve been out here a while you get a sense of what’s needed.
“I thought I had to get to -6 to win outright. I wouldn’t get beat at six.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
66: Steven Jeffress (Qld)
67: Dillon Hart (Qld), Sam Brazel (NSW)
68: Brett Rankin (Qld), Jayden Cripps (NSW), Jack Pountney (NSW)
69: Sam Slater (Qld); Jack McLeod (NSW)
NEXT UP
There’s two 36-hole events coming up in New South Wales in the adidas Pro-Am Series. The Ray White Yamba Pro-Am will be held this weekend at Yamba Golf Club followed by the PSC Insurance Brokers Wagga Wagga Pro-Am at Wagga Wagga Country Club on Wednesday and Thursday next week.
Legendary NRL superstar and current Queensland State of Origin coach Billy Slater has been announced as the keynote speaker for the Australian Golf Summit.
Slater, often called the greatest fullback in the history of rugby league, has moved on from his stellar playing career to enhance his reputation as a leader through coaching Queensland to two Origin victories against fierce rivals New South Wales.
He played 323 NRL games for Melbourne Storm, winning four grand finals, five Dally M awards and two Clive Churchill Medals, as well as his remarkable career for Queensland and Australia’s Kangaroos.
Blessed with a fierce competitive drive and a relentless work ethic to go with his natural athleticism and talent, Slater is one of the most respected figures in all of Australian sport.
He will speak about effective coaching, managing setbacks and leading successful teams at the Golf Summit on October 16-17 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
“I am looking forward to joining the Golf Summit this year to share some of the learnings from my career journey,” said Slater.
PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kirkman is delighted to have Slater at the head of the list of speakers for Melbourne in October.
“Billy Slater is revered in Australian sport with good reason,” said Kirkman. “Beyond his magnificent playing career, he’s shown himself to have really special qualities in terms of leadership that we believe will be inspiring to everyone who comes to the Summit.”
Golf Australia CEO James Sutherland said: “It’s fabulous to have access to a person like Billy Slater for the Golf Summit. The first-hand ideas on leadership that Billy owns, we believe, are very relatable to everyone and very much transferrable to all walks of life.”
The Golf Summit is run by Australian Golf’s peak bodies – the PGA of Australia and Golf Australia – to bring the industry together to engage and influence key decision makers to lead, grow and innovate Australian golf. Attendees will have the chance to network, share ideas, strategies and best practices to take back to their business to help drive growth and success.
A highlight of the Summit will be the diverse range of panel sessions addressing critical business outcomes within the industry. There will be a panel tackling championing change for women and girls in golf, along with the impact of technology on golf coaching.
The two-day conference will also feature sessions on promoting diversity and inclusion, talent retention and management, biodiversity and sustainability in golf, and leveraging social media for commercial success.
Confirmed speakers for the 2024 Golf Summit:
NRL legend & Queensland Maroons Coach, Billy Slater
Former PGA Tour caddie, Steve Williams
World-renowned PGA Professional, Will Robins
Paralympian, Elle Steele
Richmond Football Club triple-premiership player, Bachar Houli
PING VP Engineering, Dr Paul Wood
CEO PGA of Australia, Gavin Kirkman
CEO Golf Australia, James Sutherland
CEO WPGA Tour of Australasia, Karen Lunn
Deputy General Manager – 13th Beach Golf Links, Sally McKenna
2023 PGA National Coach of the Year – Game Development, Asha Flynn
General Manager – Pacific Golf Club, Amber Williams
PGA Professional – Golf coach and golf educator, Hugh Marr
Biodiversity and Sustainability expert, Monina Gilbey
Biodiversity and Sustainability expert, Kate Torgersen
Lecturer – The University of Melbourne, Emma Power
READ MORE ABOUT THE SESSIONS HERE
The Asia-Pacific region’s premier event welcoming the entire golf industry, tickets for the 2024 Golf Summit are on sale now.
SECURE YOUR TICKETS HERE
Chris Wood played “smart” golf to tear up the back nine at Murwillumbah Golf Club and score a one-shot win in the Coca-Cola Murwillumbah Pro-Am.
With a run of six birdies in eight holes, the Queenslander played the second nine of the picturesque NSW Northern Rivers layout in 6-under-par 30 on the way to a 5-under 67 to snare his fourth adidas PGA Pro-Am Series victory of 2024.
National Pro-Am Order of Merit leader Brett Rankin, Cory Crawford and Bailey Arnott shared second place at 4-under.
HOW THE WINNER’S SCORE UNFOLDED
Playing in the afternoon field and starting on the sixth hole, Wood made five straight pars to begin his round. Once he made it to the back nine, the fireworks started with birdies at the 11th and 13th holes and then four in a row from hole 15.
The Queenslander’s only dropped shot of the day came with a three-putt on the par-4 first.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
Wood said: “The putting was a bit better today. I put a bit of work in the last couple of days to get that fixed up because that’s what had been costing me.
“Every time I’ve played here previously, I’ve tried to overpower the course. Today I tried to take what I guess you’d call a smarter approach to the game. Just keep it in play off the tee and give myself as many chances as possible.
“Was fortunate the putter got hot, especially around the back nine. That six to 10-foot range was pretty crucial.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
66: Chris Wood
67: Brett Rankin, Cory Crawford, Bailey Arnott
68: Daniel Stephenson, Andrew Campbell (NSW), Alex Simpson (NSW), Will Florimo, Brenton Parrish (NSW)
NEXT UP
There’s two 36-hole events coming up in New South Wales in the adidas Pro-Am Series. The Ray White Yamba Pro-Am will be held this weekend at Yamba Golf Club followed by the PSC Insurance Brokers Wagga Wagga Pro-Am at Wagga Wagga Country Club on Wednesday and Thursday next week.
Catching the ‘golf bug’, as cliché as it sounds, is a very familiar feeling for those who have become hooked on our great game, however catching the bug for working in golf is slightly less common, yet that is exactly what happened for PGA Institute graduate Tom Keane though, who now works in a role he loves at RACV Cape Schanck Resort.
After playing the game on and off throughout his teenage years, Keane’s true passion in golf was realised when he took up a job working at Centenary Park Golf Course in Melbourne’s South.
“It came to a thing of like, ‘Oh man, I really want to start working in golf now’,” Keane said of starting at Centenary Park in 2022.
“So, I decided in 2023 that is what I wanted to do, and that year I started doing the Diploma of Golf Management at the PGA Institute.”
In his time at Centenary Park, Keane became particularly fascinated in the golf operations and management side of the industry.
“Running the operations area was sort of the main thing, and working in the pro shop and communicating with the customers was something I really loved,” he said.
A little Googling and chatting with his colleagues in the industry led Keane to the PGA Institute, and particularly the Diploma of Golf Management (now Diploma of Golf Business and Management).
With a career in the industry front of mind for Keane, his time at the PGA Institute helped refine that dream, and indeed make it reality.
“The best thing about the Institute was tour teacher, the trainer, Glenn (Burbidge), who was just the best,” said Keane.
“He’s just so knowledgeable on all kind of areas of the golf industry.
“I learned heaps about how to operate social groups and running big days, managing big days, managing finance and stuff — which was the thing I was most stressed about.”
Another aspect of the PGA Institute which Keane credits a lot of his learnings to is the diversity of his fellow students.
“I was really lucky because the class that I was in was actually with a lot of the international students as well as some local students, so you got a good perspective of what golf is to different cultures,” he said.
“So that was actually really awesome that in class I was learning about different cultures with students from different areas such as Indonesia and Hong Kong.”
Since graduating from the PGA Institute late last year, Keane has landed his dream role at RACV Cape Schanck, where he is enjoying tackling new challenges every day.
“I have taken on a lot more leadership stuff than I had at Centenary Park,” he said.
“My role is mostly in the golf operations area, so helping run the pro shop and managing stock.”
“The best thing at Cape Schanck is having more responsibility running some competitions and running corporate events and social events with members and guests that come into the hotel.”
From Warren Young and Jack Donaldson at Centenary Park to Glenn Burbidge at the PGA Institute, to now Andy Smith at Cape Schanck, Keane feels lucky that he has had great mentors throughout his journey, and although he is loving his current role, he is excited to always keep learning.
For information on the education opportunities available through the PGA Institute, visit pgaigi.com
Victorian Ben Henkel had shared two wins in this year’s adidas PGA Pro-Am Series but he made sure the next success was a solo victory at the Cohuna Stuart Appleby Pro-Am on Thursday.
A spectacular 7-under-par 65 on the country Victorian course gave Henkel a two-shot margin over two of Australia’s most experienced touring professionals, Matt Griffin and Marcus Fraser, as well as fellow Victorian Bradley Kivimets and NSW’s James Gordon.
A joint winner at Clermont and Maryborough in Queensland over winter, Henkel has been in solid form throughout 2024 with 12 top-10 pro-am finishes and he started the new Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season with a tie for ninth at last month’s PNG Open.
HOW THE WINNER’S SCORE UNFOLDED
After starting his round on Cohuna’s eighth hole, Henkel went on a run of three straight birdies on nine through 11. Although he dropped a shot at the long par-4 14th, he was -5 by the time he rolled in birdie number six for the day on the first.
Another birdie on the fourth and then an eagle on the 465m par-5 fifth sent the 23-year-old clear of the field, with a bogey on his second last hole only reducing the winning margin.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
Henkel said: “It feels great. Obviously most of these events don’t have playoffs and you really want to go out and win by yourself. Getting it done in an event solo, and shooting a good number to win by a couple, is a great feeling.
“Everything in my game has been really solid and I’m coming off some good results. Hitting the ball well off the tee was important here. It’s a pretty tight golf course. I also holed a couple of crucial par putts to keep the momentum going.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
65: Ben Henkel
67: James Gordon (NSW), Bradley Kivimets, Marcus Fraser, Matt Griffin
68: Ruben Lai, Harry Goakes, Andrew Kelly
69: Jake Fullerton, Steven Jones
(Vic players unless noted)
NEXT UP
The majority of the field that played at Cohuna will contest the 67th cluBarham Border Open at cluBarham Golf and Sports Club this weekend with 18 holes on both Saturday and Sunday.
Yamba’s Reilly Wunderlich has claimed the biggest win of his career thanks to a 2&1 victory over Conor Whitelock in the 36-hole Pampling Plate Final on Thursday.
Completing a marathon week at Caboolture Golf Club where he played a total of 137 holes in just four days, Wunderlich took advantage of a strong start to build an early lead and then hold off Whitelock’s late fightback.
The fact that Whitelock slept through his alarm and only arrived at the golf course 13 minutes before the match began may have worked in Wunderlich’s favour.
He won the opening hole to go 1 up before Whitelock squared the match again by winning the third hole.
But with wins at the fourth, seventh, 10th and 11th holes Wunderlich was soon 4 up, his lead never dropping below two holes until midway through the afternoon round.
Originally from Ballina but now undertaking the Membership Pathway Program at The Brisbane Golf Club, Whitelock won the 29th hole to get back to 1 down but Wunderlich responded by winning the next hole to return to a 2-up advantage.
The pair would halve the next five holes for Wunderlich to clinch a 2&1 victory and his second major title in the past month having won the Queensland Foursomes Championship with Jack Wright, who served as his caddie on Thursday.
“It’s so good to finally get an individual win off the back,” said Wunderlich, pictured with tournament host Marge Pampling.
“Been knocking on the door for a while now, so good to get it finally over with.”
In an all-New South Wales Northern Rivers final, Wunderlich admitted that it was a somewhat bittersweet victory given he and Whitelock grew up playing junior golf together.
“It’s certainly a lot harder to beat one of your good mates,” he added.
“Obviously you still want to beat him but it’s a lot harder to do it to one of your good mates and make them feel so bad.”
Whitelock was endeavouring to complete the Pampling Plate double having won Monday’s 36-hole Pro-Am qualifier.
Although disappointed to fall just short in the final, Whitelock leaves Caboolture proud of his performance.
“Obviously not the finish that I wanted, but I’m still very chuffed to be a finalist in this event in my first year here,” said Whitelock, who played 124 holes after contesting last week’s NSW/ACT Associate Championship at Tura Beach Country Club.
“I couldn’t really imagine it going too much better without winning.
“Obviously sleeping through the alarm didn’t help, getting here 13 minutes before the tee time.
“Got off to a rough start and trying to claw back, just couldn’t quite get there but was close in the end.”
Brisbane’s Gary Bruyeres is content to play second fiddle to his son, William, but wants to make his own mark when the PNG Senior Open begins at Lae Golf Club on Friday.
The past two PNG Senior Open winners, Peter Senior and Chris Taylor, are in the field for the $80,000 54-hole championship along with the Order of Merit champions for the past seven years, Andre Stolz and Brad Burns.
With a lone top-20 finish this season, Bruyeres is realistic about his prospects of winning but hopes to add to Will’s PNG Open triumph on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia last month in the country of his birth.
Gary’s parents first met playing golf in Goroka so the family connection to PNG runs deep, a connection he hopes to honour with a good showing in Lae.
“Hopefully I don’t ride his coattails because I want to be my own player,” Bruyeres said.
“I’ve had all Dad’s trophies here from when he played in Port Moresby so each day (during the PNG Open) I’d take a photo of one and I’d send it to him the night before.
“I think that gave him a bit of perspective of where he was and what PNG meant to the family.
“I was born there and spent a lot of time there working as an engineer so, to me, it’s one of those feelings when you go there of, I’m home.”
After moving to the Gold Coast at the age of five following the passing of his father in a car accident in PNG, Bruyeres continued his golf development at Burleigh Golf Club.
He hoped to pursue a PGA traineeship only to lose two fingers on his right hand in an accident that curtailed that dream.
It’s now been eight years since Bruyeres earned his PGA Legends Tour card and subsequently turned professional, his best result a runner-up finish at the Victor Harbor Legends Pro-Am in 2018.
A second operation on his right knee last year kept him off the golf course for six months but Bruyeres is excited about the prospect of playing more tournaments as his work life winds down.
“I was in a wheelchair for 14 weeks last year because of the knee so you lose a lot of strength and getting that back has been difficult,” he added.
“I’m looking forward to playing better golf. I’ve got no aspirations of winning the PNG Senior; there are too many young fellows out there now who just hit the ball further and harder and faster.
“But I’ll be competitive in my own mind, which is the best part about it.”
With work commitments and knee surgery limiting his Legends Tour appearances to just 21 in the previous two seasons, Bruyeres hopes to expand his playing schedule this season and into next year.
“When I first started, I travelled everywhere and then work commitments kicked in,” Bruyeres said.
“This year I’ve been able to negotiate a new contract and the knee’s getting better and I’m getting stronger, so I’ll be putting more time out in more tournaments.
“New South Wales I think is the next step after PNG so I’ll spend a bit of time down there playing.”
As for keeping up with his son, Bruyeres is more than content to revel in William’s success.
“He was 14 when he beat me for the first time,” Bruyeres recalled.
“It was at Logan City. It was in the first round of the club championships. I shot a 69. He shot a 68, so I remember it like it was yesterday.
“And I was the proudest person in that golf club.
“Then he took the No.1 Pennant spot off me and I became No.2 and, as a father, that’s what you want. You want them to succeed.”
Victorian David Micheluzzi has adopted the mindset employed by F1 superstar Max Verstappen to play his way into contention for the season-ending DP World Tour Playoffs.
In his first full season on the DP World Tour, Micheluzzi currently sits 63rd in the Race to Dubai rankings heading into this week’s Omega European Masters in Switzerland.
The 28-year-old earned his DP World Tour card by virtue of winning the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit in 2022/2023 and is on the verge of becoming an entrenched member of the Tour.
The top 70 players in the Race to Dubai rankings following the Genesis Championship in Korea (October 24-27) qualify for the first leg of the DP World Tour Playoffs, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The top 50 after that event advance to the DP World Tour Championship, a spot well within Micheluzzi’s reach given his recent run of form.
Sitting outside the top 115 cut-off to keep his card for much of the season, Micheluzzi vaulted from 120th to 57th with a runner-up finish at the BMW International Open in Germany.
On the back of that result he also climbed to a career high of 204th in the Official World Golf Rankings, taking a page from the Verstappen performance book as a way of pushing even further.
“I don’t know if this is why I started to play a lot better but in recent times idolising Max Verstappen,” said Micheluzzi, a self-confessed rev-head, on the Tee It Up podcast.
“A lot of people don’t like him but if you look at him and see what he actually does, he races non-stop.
“Not many people know that he does sim racing – he does everything in racing – and he’s just hardcore.
“He won’t sugar-coat anything and that’s what I like about it. ‘I want to step on your throat.’
“I’ve adopted that kind of mentality. What is that mentality? Just doing your job and being better at it.”
Seventeen years since Brett Rumford was victorious at the stunning Crans-sur-Sierre layout, Micheluzzi is joined in the field by fellow Aussies Jason Scrivener, Haydn Barron and Andrew Martin.
The 10 Australians in the field will be looking to solidify their place inside the top 72 of the Charles Schwab Cup standings at the PGA TOUR Champions’ Ascension Charity Classic in Missouri while there are seven Aussies in action at the Asian Tour/Japan Golf Tour co-sanctioned Shinhan Donghae Open in Korea.
With just four events left in the season Cassie Porter can inch closer towards an LPGA Tour card at the Epson Tour’s Guardian Championship while Kelsey Bennett (22nd) and Stephanie Bunque (27th) can push their claims for a Ladies European Tour card at the Rose Ladies Open on the LET Access Series.
Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
Round 1 tee times
DP World Tour
Omega European Masters
Crans-sur-Sierre GC, Crans Montana, Switzerland
5:10pm David Micheluzzi
5:20pm Haydn Barron
5:30pm Andrew Martin
9:50pm* Jason Scrivener
10:30pm Sam Jones (NZ)
Defending champion: Ludvig Aberg
Past Aussie winners: Graham Marsh (1972), Brett Rumford (2007)
Prize money: $US3.25 million
TV times: Live 9:30pm-2:30am Thursday, Friday; Live 8:30pm-1:30am Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
Asian Tour/Japan Golf Tour
The 40th Shinhan Donghae Open
Ocean Course at Club72, Korea
9am Wonjoon Lee, Anthony Quayle
9:40am* Brad Kennedy
12:50pm* Brendan Jones
1:20pm* Kevin Yuan
1:40pm Travis Smyth
2:20pm* Junseok Lee
Defending champion: Koh Gun-taek
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: KRW1.4 billion
TV times: Live 2pm-6pm Thursday, Friday on Fox Sports 503; Live 1pm-5pm Saturday on Fox Sports 505; Live 1pm-5pm Sunday on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo.
PGA TOUR Champions
Ascension Charity Classic
Norwood Hills Country Club, St Louis, Missouri
Australasians in the field: Steven Alker (NZ), Steve Allan, Stuart Appleby, David Bransdon, Greg Chalmers, Richard Green, Mark Hensby, Rod Pampling, Cameron Percy, John Senden, Michael Wright.
Defending champion: Steve Flesch
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US2.1 million
TV times: Live 5am-8am Saturday, Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
Challenge Tour
Big Green Egg German Challenge
Wittelsbacher Golfclub, Neuburg an der Donau, Germany
10:10pm Hayden Hopewell
Defending champion: Francesco Laporta
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: €270,000
PGA TOUR Americas
Fortinet Cup Championship
TPC Toronto (North Cse), Caledon, Ontario
3:04am* Grant Booth
3:15am Harry Hillier (NZ)
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US225,000
Epson Tour
Guardian Championship
Capitol Hill Golf Club, Prattville, Alabama
Australasians in the field: Cassie Porter, Fiona Xu (NZ), Amelia Garvey (NZ), Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, Su Oh
Defending champion: Cydney Clanton
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US262,500
LET Access Series
Rose Ladies Open
The Melbourne Club at Brocket Hall, England
Australasians in the field: Kelsey Bennett, Stephanie Bunque, Momoka Kobori (NZ), Wenyung Keh (NZ)
Defending champion: Chiara Tamburlini
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: €70,000
Legends Tour
Legends Open de France
Le Touquet Golf Resort (La Forêt Cse), France
Australasians in the field: Scott Hend, Michael Campbell (NZ), Michael Long (NZ)
Defending champion: Adilson da Silva
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Ballina’s Conor Whitelock is on track to complete the Pampling Plate double after earning a place in the final against fellow Northern Rivers product Reilly Wunderlich at Caboolture Golf Club on Thursday.
Winner of Monday’s 36-hole Pro-Am to qualify as the No.1 seed, Whitelock needed 19 holes to move past Justin Morley in Wednesday morning’s quarter-final and then edged Campbell Jones 1 up in their afternoon semi-final.
Wunderlich was also taken to the 18th hole in both the quarter-finals and semi-finals, defeating Ben Hollis 1 up in the morning matches and then advancing to the final with a 1 up win over Zach Ion.
Whitelock and Wunderlich will now face off in Thursday’s 36-hole final in the Pampling Plate’s 20th anniversary, the two former junior combatants ready to put friendship aside for one gruelling day.
“I grew up playing junior golf with Reilly so I know him really well,” said Whitelock, who recently transferred to The Brisbane Golf Club to continue the PGA’s Membership Pathway Program.
“We’re good mates. We go back to 2013 or 2014 playing Northern Rivers District Golf Association junior events.
“I’m excited to play him tomorrow, it should be fun.”
“Played a lot of junior golf with Conor,” confirmed Wunderlich, who last month won the Queensland Foursomes Championship with fellow Associate Jack Wright.
“Me and him have been pretty good mates for a long time, so should be a good day.”
It took a strong comeback for Wunderlich to fight his way back from 3 down with six holes to play and defeat Ion on the 18th hole.
“Zachy was 3 up with five or six to play so I had to get going a bit and put the foot down,” added Wunderlich, a second year Associate at Yamba Golf and Country Club.
“I’ve always felt that I’ve played pretty well in matchplay.
“My attitude towards matchplay is obviously pretty good. I feel like I hit the ball well and putting is also a strong part of my game.
“If I do that then I go low.”
To add the Plate to his win on Monday would be a remarkable performance from Whitelock who has been receiving treatment for thyroid cancer the past 18 months.
“I’ve just kept myself in the game really,” was Whitelock’s summation of his week to date.
“I’ve only had one water ball this whole week and I’ve putted pretty well.
“I haven’t had any three putts and I’ve just struck the ball nicely all week which has kept me in the game.”
The 36-hole final begins at 7am on Thursday morning with Ion and Jones to face off in the consolation final from 11am.
