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Victorian Ed Donoghue claimed his maiden professional title after successfully negotiating a Friday of difficult conditions at the Traralgon Latrobe City WIN Network Pro-Am Classic.
Rounds of 66-69 for a 9-under-par total at Traralgon Golf Club gave Donoghue a one-shot margin over first-round leader Andre Lautee (63-73) and Peninsula-Kingswood amateur Matthew Dahlsen (67-69).
The breakthrough victory on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series is a nice confidence boost for the 27-year-old heading into the NSW Open on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, starting at Murray Downs on Thursday.
Donoghue is currently sitting in 49th place on the Order of Merit after two top-30 finishes in his opening four events.
HOW THE WINNER’S SCORE UNFOLDED
Donoghue’s bogey-free 6-under round on day one featured a 5-under-par 32 on the front nine at Traralgon.
After starting a very windy day two at the second hole, he had five straight pars before a birdie arrived at the par-5 seventh.
His first bogey of the event came at the par-4 12th, but the fourth year pro seized the lead with consecutive birdies on 16, 17 and 18, his round of 3-under-par 69 matching the best score on Friday.
Meanwhile, Lautee was brought undone by four bogeys in the middle of his round.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“I’ve had a lot of seconds so I didn’t want to come second again,” Donoghue said.
“It’s nice to finally win and getting that monkey off the back definitely helps. It will give me some confidence I think.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
-9: Ed Donoghue (Vic) 66-69
-8: Andre Lautee (Vic) 63-73; Matthew Dahlsen (Vic) (a) 67-69
-7: Harry Goakes (Vic) 66-71; Matthew Stenson (Vic) 66-71; Caleb Bovalina (Vic) 66-71
-4: Kyle Michel (Vic) 69-71
-3: Samuel Slater (Qld) 72-69; Nathan Page (NSW) 68-73; Alexander Simpson (NSW) 69-72
NEXT UP
The Gippsland swing ends with The Middle of Everywhere Yarram Pro-Am on Saturday.
He once shot 57 at his home club but 6-under 64 was all Ben Murphy needed to take out the Community Bank Trafalgar and District Pro-Am at Trafalgar Golf Club.
The Assistant Professional at The National Golf Club’s Long Island course and a member at Peninsula-Kingswood, Murphy had an eagle and a birdie in his final three holes to finish one shot clear of Harrison Wills (65) with Matthew Millar (66) third.
An infrequent starter on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series, Murphy believes not having visited Trafalgar previously actually helped in compiling his bogey-free round.
“First time I’m seeing the course so it’s probably a blessing in disguise really where you don’t know where the trouble is,” said Murphy.
“Drove it well, holed a few putts and turned out to be 64.”
HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED
Playing in the morning move and starting from the ninth tee, Murphy began his round in positive fashion with birdies at 10 and 12.
He went 3-under on his round with birdie at the short par-4 16th but then had to play the waiting game in a run of seven straight pars.
He broke that streak with an eagle at the par-5 sixth and added a final birdie at the par-4 seventh to close out his round of 64.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“Phenomenal,” was how Murphy described the presentation of the Trafalgar layout in West Gippsland.
“Seriously, as a country course, this is as pure as it gets.
“Perfect fairways, perfect greens, cool layout. Great golf course.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1 Ben Murphy 64
2 Harrison Wills 65
3 Matthew Millar 66
4 Andre Lautee 67
T5 Aiden Didone 69
T5 Caleb Bovalina 69
NEXT UP
The Gippsland swing of the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series continues on Thursday with day one of the $30,000 Traralgon Latrobe City WIN Network Pro-Am Classic at Traralgon Golf Club before moving on to Yarram Golf Club on Saturday.
Nathan Page started the Gippsland swing of the adidas PGA Pro-Am series by denying Mark Panopoulous back-to-back victories with a one-shot win at the Sporting Legends Sale Pro-Am on Sunday.
Coming off a victory at Box Hill, Panopoulos shot a 2-under-par in the morning wave at Sale only to be pipped by Page’s 3-under 68 in the afternoon.
The 21-year-old was back on the pro-am circuit after bypassing the Queensland PGA Championship on the Challenge PGA Tour of Australasia as he managed a groin complaint which he hopes doesn’t affect his plans for the rest of 2024.
“I just couldn’t do the six days in a row,” Page said.
“It probably came at a good time because I wasn’t in a good mental space either.”
HOW THE WINNER’S SCORE UNFOLDED
Beginning his round at the seventh hole, Page reeled off six straight pars before birdies came at the 13th, 15th and 18th with a solitary bogey at the 17th.
He birdied the first to make it four birdies in seven holes before parring his way to the end.
Meanwhile, Panopoulos was 4-under before two bogeys cost him the chance of the another title.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
Page said: “It was a good steady round. I just wanted to go out there and be positive. That’s something I’ve been working on a bit the last few weeks. Just trusting that what I’m doing will come.
“I made a few nice par putts early and then was able to work my way into it nicely.
“The greens are pretty small and the fairways are tight so you’ve got to be pinpoint and then the wind made it even more difficult which you can definitely see in the results with 3-under winning.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
67: Nathan Page (Vic)
68: Mark Panopoulos (NSW); Caleb Bovalina (Vic)
69: Chris Mueck (Vic)
71: Jayden Cripps (NSW); Steven Jones (Vic); Cameron Kelly (Vic); Michael Choi (Vic); Hayden Webb
NEXT UP
The Gippsland swing for the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series continues with the Community Bank Trafalgar & District Pro-Am at Trafalgar Golf Club on Wednesday
A conservative approach to his first 18 holes at Box Hill Golf Club paid dividends for Mark Panopoulos who claimed the Gorilla Ladders Box Hill Pro-Am today.
The Concord-based professional shot a round of 3-under-par 68 to beat a pair of Victorians, Cameron John and Ryan Lynch, by a stroke to claim his second adidas PGA Pro-Am Series title for 2024.
Panopoulos has another five pro-ams on his schedule before he attempts to qualify for the $800,000 NSW Open at Murray Downs later this month and has the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Qualifying School as a longer term target.
Lynch’s round was the best of the morning field, while John birdied his final hole to grab a share of second.
HOW THE WINNER’S SCORE UNFOLDED
The winner’s scorecard featured five birdies, including one on his opening hole, the par-4 eighth, and one to finish at the par-5 seventh to claim the outright victory.
His only dropped shots came at the par-3 11th and at the longest par-4 at Box Hill, the 423m second.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
Panopoulos: “I played solid all day after getting off to a good start on my first hole. I hadn’t played here before I was just focussing on keeping the ball in play and not pushing it too much.
“Sometimes that works for me, where I don’t get too aggressive and play the safer and smarter shots.
“I had a look at the scoreboard with five or six to play, I like to do that, and realised I had a couple of par-5s in my last few holes and knew I might have some chances there. Nice to have them there as a back-up.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
68: Mark Panopoulos (NSW)
69: Cameron John (Vic); Ryan Lynch (Vic)
70: Harvey Young (Vic); Matt Dowling (Vic)
71: Nathan Kungl (Vic); Jack Chrystie (Vic)
72: Cameron Kelly (Vic); Josh Younger (Vic); Jayden Cripps (NSW); Wade Lowrie (Vic); Caleb Bovalina (Vic)
NEXT UP
The Gippsland swing for the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series begins with the Sporting Legends Pro-Am at Sale on Sunday followed by events at Trafalgar, Traralgon and Yarram
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.
