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The wind that whipped up on the Bellarine only served to inspire Brock Gillard as the Victorian claimed a two-stroke win at the Anglesea Golf Club Pro-Am.
After nursing a soft tissue injury through the winter months, Gillard upped his practice intensity in recent weeks.
While the ball-striking reflected that over the first eight holes, the scores didn’t.
It took until the par-4 14th to snare his first birdie, and then they came in a rush, adding three more at 18, one and two in some of the more difficult conditions.
“The first nine holes, I hit it really, really good and made no birdies,” said Gillard.
“Then the wind got up in my last six holes and I made all my birdies.
“The golf guards… go figure.”
Gillard’s round of 3-under 70 was two better than Legends Tour regular Tim Elliott (72) with Ashley Hall (74) and Ryan Lynch (75) third and fourth respectively.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“I felt pretty good the last few days with practise,” said Gillard.
“Been hitting it good. The scores haven’t been relating and today just sort of managed to hold it together and holed some good putts.
“I will definitely be playing the Gippsland swing coming up and then got my eyes on trying to qualify for the New South Wales Open.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1 Brock Gillard 70
2 Tim Elliott 72
3 Ashley Hall 74
4 Ryan Lynch 75
T5 Steven Jones 76
T5 Nick Dastey 76
T5 Michael Choi 76
T5 James Briggs 76
NEXT UP
The adidas PGA Pro-Am Series has a short break before resuming with the Gorilla Ladders Box Hill Pro-Am at Box Hill Golf Club on November 1.
Both suffered late slip-ups yet Aaron Maxwell and Alex Simpson did enough to share victory at the 2024 Cumberland City Junior Pro-Am.
Played at the spectacularly-presented Woodville Golf Course, veteran Matthew Millar led the field into Round 2 but early struggles brought the likes of fellow Canberran Maxwell and Simpson into the mix.
Paired with Millar for the final round, Maxwell (68) was 6-under on his round and 10-under total before he dropped three shots in his final three holes to end the day at 7-under.
Simpson (67) teed off on his final hole at 8-under for the tournament only to bogey the par-4 17th to finish square with Maxwell at 7-under.
Jordan Mullaney’s 6-under 66 was the low round of the tournament and propelled him into outright third with Millar’s even-par 72 enough to snare fourth.
HOW THE WINNING ROUNDS UNFOLDED
The par-5 18th hole was Simpson’s first of the second round, a birdie the ideal start of a 2-under 70 on day one.
The par 5s would continue to provide good fodder as he eagled the par-5 third which he followed up with three straight birdies around the turn at Woodville.
He made his first bogey of the day at the par-4 12th but responded immediately with a birdie on 13, yet another par 5.
Like Simpson, Maxwell made his move on the early holes at Woodville.
Maxwell birdied the par-5 third and then made eagle at the par-5 sixth to make the turn in 3-under.
He had the tournament in his grasp when he made three birdies in the space of four holes from the par-4 12th but a double-bogey on 16 and bogey on 17 left him needing a birdie on 18 to match Simpson’s 7-under total.
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
T1 Aaron Maxwell 69-68—137
T1 Alexander Simpson 70-67—137
3 Jordan Mullaney 73-66—139
4 Matthew Millar 68-72—140
T5 Wil Daibarra 71-70—141
T5 Samuel Slater 73-68—141
T5 Dean Mulley 69-72—141
T5 Nathan Miller 71-70—141
T5 Jake Kable 70-71—141
NEXT UP
The adidas PGA Pro-Am Series has a week off before resuming at Anglesea Golf Club for the Anglesea Golf Club Pro-Am on Tuesday, October 22.
Tura Beach Country Club defended par with everything it had but Peter Lonard, Guy Wall and Mark Boulton dealt with it best to share victory at the Sapphire Coast Legends Pro-Am.
Played across Merimbula Golf Club (par 71) and Tura Beach (par 73) over two days, Lonard, Wall and Boulton finished the 36 holes at even par, Wall, Boulton and Mike Harwood the only players to play Tura Beach in even par.
For Wall, the difficulty of the challenge brought him into the frame for his first PGA Legends Tour win in more than a year.
“If a pair of 5-unders wins the tournament, I’m not really going to be a chance,” said Wall.
“I’m kind of steady, good control of distances on the iron shots, and that’s important around here.
“When it gets tough and par’s a good score, then that lifts my chances.”
HOW THE WINNING ROUNDS UNFOLDED
A brilliant round of 5-under 66 gave Peter Jones a three-stroke lead after Round 1 at Merimbula but, like many, he would fall foul to the test of Tura Beach.
One-under on arrival at Tura Beach, Lonard made two bogeys in his first six holes but responded with late birdies at 13 and 16 in a round of 1-over 74 to finish square after 36.
Boulton and Wall both shot even-par 71 at Merimbula but endured some ups and downs on their way to even-par 73s at Tura Beach.
Boulton was hot out of the blocks with three birdies in his first seven holes but a run of four bogeys and two birdies across six holes late in his round brought him back to the pack.
He maintained a one-stroke advantage but a dropped shot at his penultimate hole – the par 4 first – would drop him back to even par.
Wall also had three birdies in his six holes – along with a lone bogey – but would have to conjure something late to join Boulton and Lonard on top.
A double-bogey at the par-4 seventh left Wall with work to do and he answered with a closing birdie at the par-4 12th.
WHAT THE WINNERS SAID
“It was good to begin with,” said Mark Boulton.
“I seemed to find greens and make putts and then, towards the afternoon, the greens firmed up and found them a bit harder to hold. That made it a bit difficult, but in the end, got over the line with just enough numbers.
“I’ve said it many times, but to be in amongst the fraternity with some of these real legends that played for many years and been everywhere, it’s an absolute privilege to be a part of.”
“Played the par 5s well,” said Guy Wall.
“Didn’t reach them all, but you’ve just got to lay back to a yardage sometimes and relied on my wedge game.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
T1 Mark Boulton 71-73—144
T1 Peter Lonard 70-74—144
T1 Guy Wall 71-73—144
T4 Andre Stolz 70-75—145
T4 Brad Burns 71-74—145
T6 Michael Harwood 73-73—146
T6 Grahame Stinson 72-74—146
NEXT UP
The South Coast swing continues on Friday with the 36-hole Mollymook NSW Senior Masters at Mollymook Golf Club’s Hilltop Course to be followed by the ACT Senior PGA Championship starting Tuesday at Fairbairn Golf Club.
Brett Rankin didn’t think life could get any better than when his beloved Brisbane Lions won the AFL Grand Final. Until he became a world champion.
Rankin, 38, rammed in a seven-metre birdie putt to win a three-way sudden-death playoff at Binalong on Sunday to become the inaugural World Sand Greens Championship winner.
“This might be the best weekend of my life,” the affable Queenslander said with the broadest of smiles.
“I was already buzzing about the footy, then to have this, I can’t believe it.
“I think I’m going have to change the resume and all the socials to say world champ.
“I think I might even get that `Champ is here’ thing from Muhammad Ali to play when I go and see the boys.”
A prolific winner on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series, Rankin began his round in the second-last group at 4-under and two off the lead. He emerged as the likely winner when he leapt to the top before the turn as those in the final group stumbled.
But just as he failed to take advantage of some key scoring opportunities midway through the back nine, Victorian Andrew Kelly caught fire ahead with birdies on 15, 16 and 17 to cap a magnificent course-record 63 to post 9-under.
Momentarily, a Cinderella story involving Yass amateur Robbie Furner appeared a possibility, but his birdie attempt from off the back of the 18th green narrowly missed and he signed for 8-under to the thunderous applause of the huge local gallery.
But Rankin steadied behind and he and playing partner Samuel Slater, also of Queensland, each birdied the 17th to reach 9 and 8-under, respectively.
The powerful Slater hit a huge drive almost 100m left of his target coming up the final regulation hole and it didn’t appear much better when his second could only get back to within 25m of the green.
But needing a birdie to join a possible playoff, Slater pulled off the miracle as his third fell in on the last roll to bring the house down.
Rankin missed what would have been the winning birdie putt, but made no such mistake in the playoff from a similar position minutes later.
“This course is great, it really makes you think and hit some shots that require a bit of imagination which I really like,” Rankin said.
“I had an amazing week out here, I really loved it, everything about the sand greens.
“And to cap the whole thing off by doing that in a playoff, it’s just amazing.”
Furner and Dillon Hart shared fourth one shot back, while Matt Dowling, Adam Brady and Blake Windred finished tied sixth at 7-under.
Ryan Peake chipped in twice en route to a spectacular 6-under-par 64 and the halfway lead in the World Sand Greens Championship at Binalong Golf Club.
The West Australian lowered the Binalong course record by two strokes with six birdies, an eagle and two bogeys to take a one-shot edge over Lucas Higgins and Peter Cooke into Sunday’s final round.
But on a packed leaderboard, six players share fourth at 4-under with another six just a shot back from them.
Peake had a “pretty serious debrief” after letting slip his chance in the final group at the Queanbeyan regional qualifier for the New South Wales Open earlier this week.
And the left-hander – who once won an international amateur teams event paired with Cam Smith – is eager to make amends when he gets a repeat chance for a world title.
“I knew it was on TV and I really wanted to show something to my family and friends back in WA,” said Peake, a member at Lakelands Country Club north of Perth.
“But it got away from me quickly and I was really disappointed in what I did… I’m looking forward to setting the record straight a bit tomorrow.”
Peake, who began his round on the ninth hole, leapt from the blocks with a chip-in eagle on the short par-4 10th hole, but stagnated for an hour before a bogey on the short 14th triggered his record charge.
He birdied six of the next seven holes, including another greenside chip-in on the 18th.
“I missed a couple, too, but then again, I had a couple drop in for me, so it all evens out on sand greens – you just have to roll with it,” he said.
“I played a lot of state events on sand as an amateur and I really like it.”
South Australian Cooke, also no stranger to sand greens, said his round was “pretty stress-free” as he peeled off six birdies against just one bogey.
“I got up and down pretty well from the sides of most greens and made birdies on the holes you’d expect to,” Cooke said.
“It was just a solid round of golf.”
The X-factor in the final group is Higgins, a sand greens rookie from Murwillumbah who also found six birdies after not looking nearly as comfortable during his Friday pro-am round.
“I spent a lot of time looking at the way the ball was rolling around the greens and tried to take that out today and it worked pretty well,” Higgins said.
“I’m learning as we go, but I’m happy with the way it went.”
Blake Windred and Brett Rankin are the biggest names at 4-under, while veteran Rick Kulacz looms again at 3-under, just days after his runner-up finish at Queanbeyan.
The final group in Sunday’s final round will start at 11:50am, with live coverage on Seven Plus and streamed on the Golf NSW website.
Josh Armstrong took a while to get rolling, but the big rig found top gear just in time to nab the final trophy of the New South Wales Open Qualifying Series today.
Armstrong, a native Canberran now based in Sydney, carved out a sublime, bogey-free 6-under-par 64 on familiar Queanbeyan turf to hold off some bold challenges.
His 9-under total proved just enough to fend off the fast-finishing Corey Lamb (66) at 8-under, while Rick Kulacz (64) and Blake Windred (67) were each bogey-free in reaching 7-under.
They were joined in a share of third by joint overnight leader Will Florimo (69), who started well but couldn’t go with the chasing pack as it roared past.
Armstrong, 25, opened his tournament with a bogey on Tuesday and was still 1-over when he turned on to the back nine in the first round.
But he parlayed four back-nine birdies yesterday into another four today, then capped it with a stunning 10m eagle putt on the par-5 16th to ultimately seal victory.
“Overall I played really well, my putter was good today and it was pretty nice to make that big one on the 16th right when I needed to,” Armstrong said.
“I’ve been playing better than my results suggest, so it’s really nice to get rewarded for effort.
“And I’m really glad to do it with mum (Lynne) here and at a course I know so well, I’ve played a lot of golf here and I think that probably helped me out a bit.”
Kulacz, the 2006 NSW Open champion, was outstanding in setting the clubhouse mark for Armstrong to chase. The West Australian veteran is building back to his best form and sent a shiver through the field when he surged to 7-under with the long 16th to play.
But his long birdie try on the par-5 agonisingly hung over the lip and his momentum stalled.
He was joined in qualifying for the NSW Open at Murray Downs in November by Lamb and the home club’s assistant professional, Trent Britton.
Despite the final nine holes being played in miserable conditions, Britton had a generous gallery following him when he surged up the leaderboard with three successive birdies from the ninth.
But his chance slipped with his missed par putt on the short 15th as he closed with a 68 to be 6-under.
The NSW Open will be played at Murray Downs from November 14-17.
LEADERBOARD
-9: Josh Armstrong (NSW)
-8: Corey Lamb (NSW)
-7: Rick Kulacz (WA), Will Florimo (Qld), Blake Windred (NSW)
-6: Jay Mackenzie (NSW), Trent Britton (ACT), Andrew Kelly (Vic), Ed Donoghue (Vic)
NEXT UP
The $150,000 World Sand Greens Championships will be played at Binalong in country NSW on Saturday and Sunday.
The Men’s NSW Open Golf Regional Qualifying Series is proudly supported by Destination NSW, the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency.
Ben Henkel wasn’t in the spotlight – until it mattered most. The 23-year-old Victorian made two birdies in his closing three holes to storm into a playoff, then maintained that momentum to edge Lincoln Tighe to win the New South Wales Open regional qualifier at Bateman’s Bay.
After enduring a double-bogey on the second hole of Saturday’s opening round, it was a spectacular comeback for Henkel, whose closing 67 – to reach the playoff at 9-under – came without a bogey.
Ed Donoghue set the stage with early second-round fireworks in a sparkling 7-under-par 65 to set a new Catalina Club course record.
But it appeared as though Tighe had done enough when he carded a fine 66 to wrest the clubhouse lead.
At roughly the same time, Henkel thought he’d threaded his second shot on the par-5 12th hole through some trees, only to roar in disbelief when his ball clipped the last branch and into trouble.
But a great recovery set up one of three late birdies for his fourth win – the first at such a high level – in his rookie professional campaign.
“My coach, Kel Llewellyn, taught me the mindset of being aware of your surroundings, to centre yourself when you’re going down a path of negativity, to just bring yourself back and trust that you can make some birdies and hit the shots you need to hit,” Henkel said.
“I owe it to him for putting that mindset into my head, I definitely wasn’t born with it.”
Henkel was literally within millimetres of being a quadriplegic when he suffered a severe neck injury in a 2019 car crash that left golf far from his priority.
“I fractured my C1 vertebrae and it was a year or so with a neck brace, rehab and that sort of stuff,” the Curlewis member said.
“It was kind of more, not from the physical side of things, but mentally, I wasn’t really sure if I really cared for golf anymore, but slowly I got back into it with the help of mates back home and mum and dad and the family.
“Right now though, that seems so far away. But it’s crazy to think that, yeah, we could have gone a different route.
“So I’m very grateful to be here and playing these events, it’s all part of my mindset, I suppose.”
It had been a manic day for leaderboard watchers with no fewer than nine leaders at various stages.
Early on, it appeared as though South Coast amateur Jye Halls was the man to watch when he hit a stunning long 6-iron to within 2m for an eagle on the sixth.
But he, like many, fell away as the pressure of the back nine ramped up.
Tighe uncharacteristically couldn’t cash in on his strength and played the par-5s in even-par, but used his improved short game to threaten Donoghue’s earlier course record.
But his tee shot in the playoff went left, a position from which he was unable to scramble a par, leaving Henkel as the champ, with Grierson joining that pair with tickets to play against Cam Smith at the NSW Open in November at Murray Downs.
“That sounds pretty cool when you put it like that,” Henkel said.
“I’ll just (try to) rock up, act like it’s another tournament, which it is, and just see if I can keep playing how I am.
“Obviously, these guys are the best in the world, and it’s good that he’s coming back to play and it would only be my fifth or sixth Aussie Tour event.
“So, yeah, I’m still quite fresh, but keen to get out there and give it a crack.
“I feel like my game’s good enough to compete.
“Making some birdies today when I needed to was a great feeling and especially to hole the putts when it mattered the most.”
LEADERBOARD
-9: Ben Henkel (Vic); Lincoln Tighe (NSW). Henkel won playoff
-7: James Grierson (NSW)
-6: Ed Donoghue (Vic), Nathan Page (NSW), Dylan Gardner (Qld)
The Men’s NSW Open Golf Regional Qualifying Series is proudly supported by Destination NSW, the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency.
He began his round a full 88 minutes before the final group set sail yet Aiden Didone roared across the finish line to win the New South Wales Open qualifying series event at Wollongong Golf Club.
The Melbournian matched the course record of 7-under-par 63 set a day earlier by Jayden Cripps, then endured a prolonged wait before winning a sudden-death playoff over Sydney phenom Jeffrey Guan.
On a day when the lead swung wildly around a packed leaderboard, it had appeared as though Guan, fresh off his first US PGA Tour start, would salute after vaulting to the lead with the seventh birdie of his own rollercoaster round on the 16th hole.
But when Guan flew his approach to the final green long, not only did he make an uncharacteristic bogey, he effectively pushed Didone out of his clubhouse chair and to the practice nets.
His warm-up of five rushed shots was too short given the Victorian “duck-hooked” his playoff drive into a nasty stance in a left fairway bunker. He escaped that lie superbly to leave himself 130 metres to the flag for his third, then watched in disbelief as Guan’s charge found a muddy grave.
Guan reared back with a fairway wood from 235m and attempted to carry the water right of the 18th green, only for his ball to nestle into a hole in five-centimetre deep mud.
So nasty was Guan’s lie in the drying hazard area that his feet plunged through the surface when he took his stance.
The resultant swing – with all his might fearing he might not move it, let alone carry the 10m left to the flag – somehow made great contact and sent the ball soaring into the car park behind the clubhouse.
After another failed exit attempt, Didone was ultimately left with a handful of putts for victory, and his two-putt par was more than enough.
As an amateur, Didone, now 27, followed in the steps of legendary Phil Mickelson (1990) and Sydney’s Harrison Endycott (2016) when he put his name on the time-honoured Porter Cup in New York in 2019.
But after turning pro during the Covid years, he’s battled to take that all-important next step.
“It’s been a long time coming,” the affable Didone said after matching his low round as a pro.
“I’ve been grinding out on the tour for 18 months and then just had a good back-end to last year. Went OK in the Vic Open this year and then played pretty well in PNG.
“It has been brewing in the background and I’ve been doing a lot of hard work at home, so it feels amazing to get the monkey off the back.
“And particularly to win with a low one, too, is good for the confidence going forward.
“I’m actually pretty stoked to have a course record under my belt, so it’s a good time to do it.”
The key shot of Didone’s victory probably came on the final hole of his regulation round, calmly knocking in a six-metre birdie putt to reach the 9-under total he ultimately needed to reach the playoff.
“I thought it would be 9 or 10-under, but I knew I had to make that putt, I kind of had that feeling,” he said.
“I’d been pumping putts past all day, I thought I’d hit it a bit softer and it was the perfect putt over the front edge.”
Didone, joined by Aaron Townsend and Wollongong amateur Sam Cascio as new qualifiers to the NSW Open, said he couldn’t wait for the chance to play alongside Cam Smith at Murray Downs in November.
But he is also confident of what else might lie ahead this summer.
“I feel as though I can get my nose in front and hang on when I play well,” said Didone.
“A couple of weeks before that (Porter Cup) win in New York, I sort of had this feeling that I’m doing some good stuff. I’m getting that feeling now before the season which is great.”
Townsend, the 2008 NSW Open champion, remarkably fired seven birdies in his final 10 holes to roar home with a 64 to reach 8-under and a share of third.
He shared that billing with Cascio, the reigning Australian junior champion who carded a superb bogey-free 65 of his own – a magnificent achievement on his home course to set up the chance to play with Smith.
“That would be absolutely amazing,” Cascio said.
“It’s so cool (to think of) and it will be great to play against him on the same course to see how good he is. I can’t wait.”
Photo: Courtesy Golf NSW
The golf world can come hard and fast at Jayden Cripps, but the Cronulla pro might finally have the tools to tackle it.
Cripps shot a course-record 7-under-par 63 at Wollongong Golf Club on Tuesday to take the lead in the NSW Open qualifying series event on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series schedule.
He’s only a shot clear on a jam-packed leaderboard that features a swag of fancied players, including Jeffrey Guan fresh off a plane from San Francisco after his PGA TOUR debut.
But they’ll all have to run down Cripps when he puts a dazzling new combination of skills to the test as he chases his first professional victory.
“I haven’t had the chance to see my coach John Serhan for a while, so yesterday I went to St Michaels and worked on my putting with him for two hours and today everything just felt so much better,” Cripps said.
“I went to cross-hand putting from conventional and with my eyes over the ball, I suddenly had speed control.
“I’ve been playing really well, but haven’t been able to make a putt, so that was very exciting today.”
Cripps actually began his record round with a bogey on the gettable par-5 first hole.
But with the soothing words of Marcus Fraser, Matt Millar, Steven Jeffress and PGA of Australia staff member Pete Welden in his ears, nothing could rattle Cripps.
“They all tell me to slow down. I’ve got ADHD, so I’m 100 miles an hour all the time,” he added.
“But when I had that bogey to start, I was strangely really calm.
“I made a three on the second, a good three on the third and then drove it on the front of the (par-4) fourth and it just went from there.
“I played with `Frase’ at Coffs (Harbour) recently and he’s been giving me tips, slowing me down and just getting me to breathe.
“He says the more you slow your body down, your swing will slow down too.
“Timing is huge for me – if it’s out I’m generally hitting it off the planet.
“So today I didn’t get nervous all day, which is a big thing for me.”
Cripps’ 63 was his equal best score as a pro and his first course record away from his Cronulla base.
“That’s pretty special to me – especially because I love it around here, too.”
In fact, there’s a strong “local” presence on the leaderboard with Picton’s Justin Warren alongside Concord amateur Blake Phillips at 64.
They’ll be joined in Wednesday’s final group by Coffs Harbour’s Amelia Mehmet-Grohn, the leading woman in the field and the first in at 65.
The second-last group will feature Links Shell Cove amateur Colin Mitchell, Wollongong pro Jordan Zunic, Queenslander Dylan Gardner and rising Sydney star Guan, whose plane from the United States only landed at 7.30am Tuesday morning.
“I just went home, took a shower, threw on these clothes and then drove down about an hour-and-a-half,” he said.
“The body feels surprisingly good. I’m pretty happy to have 65, especially in the afternoon around here.”
Aside from Zunic, who won two Wollongong Opens here as a young amateur and has gone on to win three times on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, it’s testament to the youth in the field that Warren is among the most experienced of the chasing pack.
“I’m 29 in a couple of weeks, so I’ve been out here a few years now and it’s kind of scary to say, but with that comes a lot of experience,” said Warren, who’s loving sleeping in his own bed and commuting to Wollongong.
“I’ve had some good ones and some really bad ones, but in any event, no matter what it is, the goal’s to win and from the last couple of groups tomorrow, I’m in a position to do that.
“I have been in this position quite a few times – I won’t say I know what to expect and obviously there’s going to be a few little nerves out there trying to get a win, but being able to manage those is critical and managing your game to give yourself the best shot.”
Warren kickstarted his round with a sensational eagle on the first hole when he rifled a 4-iron uphill from 213 metres to three metres behind the hole and rolled in the putt.
Phillips celebrated his 22nd birthday with a bogey-free 6-under round.
“I’ve played a couple of pro events now and know how it goes and I don’t feel too different from the pros,” said Phillips, who played alongside Warren and Zunic in the day’s hottest group.
“We fed off each other and it was pretty good golf.”
There are plenty of chances for another story in Wednesday’s final round, though, with 24 players at 3-under or better.
New South Wales rookie Jye Pickin has stamped himself as a player to watch this summer after matching the course record to win the PSC Insurance Brokers Wagga Wagga Pro-Am.
A star-studded field plundered birdies and eagles on day one of the $50,000 event, one of the most popular on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series schedule.
Pickin shot 5-under 67 in Round 1 yet trailed by four, a deficit he would rein in late in Friday’s second round.
Forced to keep the foot down for the entire round, Pickin made birdie at each of his final two holes to match Andrew Kelly’s 2019 course record of 10-under 62 for a 15-under total, one clear of Jay Mackenzie (67) with Border Open champion Kyle Michel third (66) at 13-under.
It marks Pickin’s second win since turning professional in May and provides a timely confidence boost ahead of the continuation of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season next month in Western Australia.
“Seeing the kind of guys that were out here this week, I knew I had to play well. You had to come out here and play well and the fact that I did is a huge confidence boost for me,” said Pickin, who also shot 62 to win the Northbridge Pro-Am in July.
“To go out there against the star-studded field like we had the last couple of days was awesome. And to shoot a score like that today was awesome.”
HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED
Trailing overnight leaders Jay Mackenzie and Corey Lamb by four strokes, Pickin made a steady start that gathered momentum as the round went on.
He began with a birdie at the par-4 eighth and continued to chip away at the deficit.
Pickin picked up shots at 11, 13, 15 and 17 but it was the final flurry that got him ultimately to the top of the leaderboard.
Starting with a two at the par-3 second, the 24-year-old snared five birdies in his final six holes to match Kelly’s mark of five years prior and earn the biggest win of his young career.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“All day I had that chasing mindset of being behind; I must like playing in that position,” said Pickin.
“You didn’t have to not only get off to a good start, but you had to finish strong as well.
“The pin on 17 was sort of middle right and a perfect number for me.
“Nine-iron was about 147 back into a little wind so I knew I could be confident and hit a strong shot.
“Just drew off the pin a little bit to 15 foot left of it, which was an ideal shot in my mind at the time.
“There was actually a member that was a few feet behind me on a similar line and I got a good read off his to roll that one in and follow that one in on the last was awesome.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1 Jye Pickin 67-62—129
2 Jay Mackenzie 63-67—130
3 Kyle Michel 65-66—131
T4 James Conran 64-69—133
T4 Toby Walker 65-68—133
T4 Larry Austin 67-66—133
T7 Corey Lamb 63-71—134
T7 Emma Ash 69-65—134
NEXT UP
The next event in the New South Wales Open regional qualifying series tees off on Tuesday at Wollongong Golf Club to be followed by the South Coast Open at Catalina Country Club starting Saturday, September 21.
