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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.
They needed extra holes but Dylan Knox and Justin Morley have kept alive their hopes of a maiden Pampling Plate victory in an enthralling day of matchplay competition at Caboolture Golf Club.
Both Knox and Morley finished outside the top eight Associates who received a first round bye on Tuesday morning so endured a gruelling day before booking their place in the quarter-finals on Wednesday morning.
Knox accounted for Jordan Hampson 5&4 in Round 1 as Morley recorded a dominant 7&6 win over Ben Scholl.
The afternoon matches would go beyond the 18 regulation holes as Damon Stephenson and James Bonnor pushed their opponents all the way.
Knox would ultimately get the better of Stephenson on the second extra hole while Morley was forced to a third extra hole before finally accounting for Bonnor.
For Knox, he needed to birdie both the 19th and 20th holes to get beyond Queensland’s No.1-ranked Associate and into the final eight.
“That was pretty full-on,” said Knox, the 2023 runner-up.
“Twenty holes, pretty knackered. I pulled a LAB putter out of the boot of my mate’s car this morning and just put it straight into play. I don’t think I’m ever taking it out now.
“Putting was really solid. I knew I had to put it close playing against Damon so I’m pretty proud of myself that I held on there.”
Morley’s victory over Bonnor was even more miraculous given he was 3-down with just four holes to play and facing an early exit.
“What a marathon that was,” Morley said.
“I hadn’t really had anything drop all day so was just hanging in there and playing steady.
“I made an awesome putt for birdie on 15, the par 5, which got me back to 1-down. Made a really good par on 17 to get back to square and then on 18 missed a seven-footer to win it and then went to extra holes.
“James was in really close on the 19th but I managed to finally get one to drop from about 25-30 feet which was huge. I needed that more than anything.”
The extra-time thrillers were just two of four matches that went the distance on Tuesday afternoon.
All four featured a standard of golf worthy of a final but it was Jack Wright and Ben Hollis who joined Knox and Morley in the quarter-finals.
Wright edged Jordan Rooke 1 up while Hollis won the final hole to complete a 2 up win over Adam Teale.
Joining those four in the quarter-finals are the No.1 qualifier from Monday’s strokeplay, Conor Whitelock, Zach Ion, Campbell Jones and Reilly Wunderlich.
Following a bye in Round 1, Whitelock defeated Rylee Johnson 4&2, Ion defeated Stacey Edwards 6&5, Jones advanced with a 5&4 win over Jaime Lansi and Wunderlich completed a 3&2 win over Josh Holbrook.
Quarter-final draw
6:40am Dylan Knox v Campbell Jones
6:47am Zach Ion v Jack Wright
6:54am Ben Hollis v Reilly Wunderlich
7:01am Justin Morley v Conor Whitelock
Ballina product Conor Whitelock has produced his best golf of the year to secure the No.1 seed for the matchplay section of the Pampling Plate at Caboolture Golf Club.
Whitelock, who recently transferred from Ballina Golf Club to continue the Membership Pathway Program at The Brisbane Golf Club, shot matching rounds of 3-under 68 in the 36-hole qualifier to finish four clear of Ben Hollis with Zach Ion third at 1-under.
The top 24 players now advance to the matchplay section of the 20th edition of the Pampling Plate with Whitelock and the top eight qualifiers to receive a bye in the first round on Tuesday morning.
Whitelock will play the winner of the Minami Inoue v Rylee Johnson match in Round 2 full of confidence after a day in which every aspect of his game was at its best.
“Everything really worked together today,” said Whitelock.
“Putting, chipping, driving, just stuck it close as well, too.
“So that definitely helps throughout the day.”
Without a win to date this season, the commanding victory is the latest in a run of good news for Whitelock.
Diagnosed with thyroid cancer 18 months ago, Whitelock has been receiving treatment as he pursues his career as a PGA Professional and recently received some positive results.
“I’ve been dealing with that behind the scenes,” Whitelock shared,
“Obviously affecting my performance and all that with therapy and all that, but we’re getting through it now.
“I’ve had some good results lately, but this win has definitely improved the confidence.
“Hopefully I can come back to where I was before that diagnosis.”
Starting Round 1 from the 15th tee, Whitelock was 2-under after just three holes.
There was a slight stumble when he bogeyed the par-4 first but he got that shot back and then some with an eagle at the par-5 third.
A bogey at his final hole meant that Whitelock shared the best score of Round 1 with Ion and Josh Holbrook but, as the temperature gauge nudged 35 degrees, he would take control of qualifying early in Round 2.
After opening with three pars, Whitelock peeled off four birdies on the trot and, despite a late double-bogey, maintained a healthy advantage throughout.
“I was doing live of scoring and had a quick look at the leaderboard and I saw I was about four or five in front,” said Whitelock.
“Then I made a double and then made a birdie straight after that, which helped settle the nerves there.
“But I did know I had a bit of a lead out there, so it was comforting.”
Round 1 of matchplay begins at 6:40am on Tuesday with the top eight to join the fray in Round 2 from 11:39am.
A first-time champion will be crowned when the Pampling Plate marks its 20th staging at Caboolture Golf Club starting Monday.
At the course where PGA TOUR and Champions Tour winner Rod Pampling began as a junior, 59 Associates currently undertaking the PGA of Australia’s Membership Pathway Program from Queensland and New South Wales will tee it up in Monday’s 36-hole strokeplay qualifying.
From there, the top 24 advance to three days of matchplay competition with the winner facing the possibility of playing 36 holes four days straight to claim possession of the Pampling Plate.
With the past three winners – Mitch Smith (2021), Dylan Gardner (2022) and Lachlan Wood (2023) – all now graduating to full Vocational Membership of the PGA, it will be a first-time winner who emerges from one of Australian golf’s most gruelling examinations.
Two of the favourites to join the Pampling Plate honour roll will be Jack Wright (Coolangatta-Tweed Heads Golf Club) and Damon Stephenson (Parkwood Golf Club) who have 17 Associate wins between them this year already.
The 2023 runner-up, Dylan Knox (Indooroopilly Golf Club), will be hoping to go one better while Jordan Rooke (Keperra Golf Club) and Zach Ion (Virginia Golf Club) are also expected to go deep into the tournament.
First-year Associates Justin Morley (Southport Golf Club) and Campbell Jones (Pacific Golf Club) will be out to make an impression in their first appearance in an event supported for the past 20 years by the Pampling family.
Not only do the Pamplings provide financial support to the $5,000 prize purse, but Rod’s mum Marge keeps all the players fed by manning the sausage sizzle and providing her now famous home-made biscuits.
Round 1 tees off at 6:45am on Monday morning in conditions that are expected to get extremely hot throughout the day.
A par-5 birdie plunder and late stumble from 36-hole leader Luke Porritt will see Pymble’s William Bayliss take a handy lead into the final round of the $50,000 NSW/ACT Associates Championship sponsored by North Eden Timber.
Tura Beach Country Club on the New South Wales South Coast presented a far friendlier test in Round 3 on Thursday, the strong winds and fast greens that saw no player break par easing to allow players to make their move.
Two eagles in a round of 4-under 69 saw Toby Walker make the biggest charge up the leaderboard but it is Bayliss who earned the 54-hole lead with a polished 2-under 71 in Round 3 and 2-under total.
Runner-up to Jack Wright 12 months ago, Bayliss made birdie at each of the five par 5s at Tura Beach and will take a four-shot lead into Friday’s final round.
That buffer would not have been so great if not for a triple-bogey by Porritt at the par-3 17th in his round of 6-over 79.
An Associate at Thurgoona Country Club, Porritt will start the final round at 3-over and five strokes off the lead, Walker now Bayliss’s nearest challenger at 2-over par.
In addition to his two eagles at 11th and 18th holes, Walker had birdies at 13 and 16 to make a late charge up the leaderboard and enter the frame for what should be an enthralling final round.
Bayliss, Walker and Porritt will play together in the final group at 9:24am on Friday morning with reigning champion Jack Wright (70) to play in the third-to-last group with Sheradyn Johnson (74) and Steve Vail (74).
The penultimate group will feature Kane Gollasch (72), Hayden Gulliver (72) and Jordan Rooke (73).
First group will tee off at 7am on Friday with players to again be greeted by sunny skies and similar winds to that which they experienced in Round 3.
Thurgoona Country Club Associate Luke Porritt is the only player under par after strong winds caused havoc on day two of the NSW/ACT Associate Championship sponsored by North Eden Timber.
Sheradyn Johnson and Joel Mitchell returned the best scores of Round 2 at Tura Beach Country Club, their even par rounds of 73 remarkable given the difficulty of the challenge presented.
Following on from a 5-under 68 in Round 1, Porritt battled gamely in a round of 2-over 75 to be 3-under at the halfway mark and the leader by three strokes.
A double-bogey at the par-5 fourth was Porritt’s first stumble, a stumble he recovered from with back-to-back birdies at seven and eight.
A bogey at the par-3 ninth would be a portent of the difficulties to come, Porritt making five bogeys in the space of six holes.
But in a turnaround that could prove crucial by the end of the tournament on Friday, Porritt responded with birdies at 15, 17 and 18 to give him a three-stroke advantage from William Bayliss (77) with Daniel Gill (78) and Baxter Droop (76) a further three shots back at 3-over par.
“That was one of the hardest rounds of golf I’ve ever played,” Porritt said.
“The wind, along with the challenge of the greens, just made it hard to score.”
Round 3 gets underway at 8am Thursday with the leaders teeing off at 10:24am off the first tee.
Players will welcome the forecast for Round 3 as it is set to be sunny skies, minimal cloud cover and much lesser winds than experienced on Wednesday.
Twin eagles have catapulted Thurgoona Country Club’s Luke Porritt to the top of the leaderboard after day one of the NSW/ACT PGA Associate Championship proudly sponsored by North Eden Timber.
Tura Beach Country Club on the New South Wales South Coast was an absolute picture and it was Porritt who took greatest advantage of the superb conditions.
Beginning the championship from the 10th tee on Tuesday, Porritt was 2-over through six holes before a birdie at 16 and eagle at the par-5 18th got him into red figures by the turn.
From that point there was no turning back.
He made it two eagles in his round with a second at the par-5 fourth and then birdied holes seven and eight for a round of 5-under 68 and a one-stroke lead.
Proving crucial to his mid-round turnaround, Porritt admitted that he may have struggled to make par had his eagle putt on 18 not dropped.
“I smashed an 8-iron for my second shot on the 18th to about 20 feet above the hole,” Porritt recalled post-round.
“I’m glad I holed the putt, otherwise it was going into the bunker!”
Porritt’s closest challenger has a strong history at Tura Beach, 2023 runner-up William Bayliss from Pymble Golf Club again in contention after a round of 4-under 69 that featured seven birdies.
Steve Vail from Pennant Hills Golf Club is outright third after a round of 3-under 70 with three players in a share of fourth one shot further back after rounds of 2-under 71.
Round 2 gets underway at 7:21am on Wednesday morning with Porritt teeing off in the afternoon wave off the first tee at 12:25pm.
The total prize purse is $50,000 thanks to naming rights sponsor, North Eden Timber.
Tomorrow marks the start of the NSW/ACT PGA Associate Championship proudly sponsored by North Eden Timber, being played at Tura Beach Country Club, 5 hours south of Sydney on the Sapphire Coast of NSW.
A total of 120 PGA Associates (84 from NSW and 36 from Interstate) are teeing it up at Tura Beach, with 2024 the first year of a three-year tournament hosting agreement at Tura Beach Country Club and the first year that the total prize purse is $50,000.
Naming rights sponsor North Eden Timber, has come on board this year which has helped in elevating the prizemoney purse significantly.
Jack Wright, last year’s champion, is back to defend his title that he won by one shot from Pymble GC’s Associate William Bayliss.
Bayliss also returns, vying to earn his second State Championship win around the famed and familiar Tura Beach layout, having won the Tasmanian PGA Associate Championship in 2023 by six shots.
Others to watch this year will be Linus Yip (Avondale GC) Associate, Ethan Chambers (The Lakes GC) Daniel Gill (Peninsula Kingswood) and Levi Sclater (2023 National PGA Associate Championship & from Rossdale GC).
From further outside, another player who could be a chance this week will be Sheradyn Johnson (PGA Associate from The National GC) who finished third in this year’s Victorian PGA Associate Championship at Tocumwal GC back May.
The first round kicks off on Tuesday (27/08) morning at 7.21am. There will be a cut on Wednesday evening to 50 plus ties with rounds three and four to follow on Thursday and Friday.
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An emotional Jack Wright has paid tribute to his late uncle after taking out the Brisbane MG Royal Queensland PGA Associate Pro-Am at Royal Queensland Golf Club on Monday.
With prize money in excess of $27,000, the tournament broke the record for the richest one-day Associate Pro-Am in the history of the PGA of Australia, Wright winning close to $5,000 with a superb round of 6-under 66.
Starting his round from the fifth tee alongside Zach Ion and Tiger Boontang, Wright stumbled out of the blocks with an opening bogey.
A run of four straight birdies from the ninth hole to the 12th quickly turned momentum his way, the second-year Coolangatta-Tweed Heads Golf Club Associate’s bogey on 13 the only other dropped shot for a one-stroke win.
Campbell Jones had just the one bogey in his round of 5-under 67 to snare second, Ion taking third spot with 4-under 68.
For Wright, not only did the win ease some of the pain his family had felt just days earlier but provides a much-needed financial boost ahead of the defence of his NSW/ACT PGA Associate Championship at Tura Beach Country Club next month.
“I would like to dedicate the win to my uncle who passed away over recent days,” said Wright. “Today will certainly help our family who have been saddened for our loss.
“Being the winner of the biggest one-day prize purse in the history of PGA Associate Pro-Ams is really special to me and I am grateful to be able to hold such title.
“Myself and all of the PGA Associates are really thankful for the support Paul Norris as well as the Royal Queensland Golf Club has provided, not only us as a PGA Associates but for everything they do of professional golf.
“It costs a fair amount to travel to both the NSW and National PGA Associates Championships coming up later this year so this money will go a long way to taking the pressure off me to cover expenses in travelling down for them.”
Victorian Daniel Gill has won the Victorian PGA Associate Championship in a playoff after a dramatic conclusion to the final round at Club Tocumwal.
Gill birdied the 18th hole of the Captain’s Course at Tocumwal to post a final round of 3-under 69 and 7-under total.
At that point he held the lead in the clubhouse but with 54-hole leader Baxter Droop (Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Resort) standing on the 18th tee at 9-under par, it didn’t look like being enough.
Unfortunately for Droop (73) his tee shot at the 72nd hole sailed out of bounds, the resulting double bogey dropping him to 7-under and tied with Gill.
The two players returned to the 18th hole and it was Gill who immediately took the upper hand.
As he found the fairway, Droop’s tee shot finished in the rough left of the fairway. Droop’s second shot came up short of the green but after chipping up to 12 feet was unable to make the putt for par.
Gill hit his approach to 20 feet on the left side of the green and showed great touch to roll his first putt down to just two feet.
With the championship there for the taking, Gill stepped in, holed his putt for par and claimed the biggest win in his two years in the Membership Pathway Program.
“This is my 12th win as a PGA Associate but my first major win,” said a jubilant Gill.
“Being four shots back standing on 17, I knew I had to birdie the last to have a chance but I didn’t think it would lead to a playoff.
“I would like to thank my home club, Peninsula Kingswood, who have been more than accommodating with my playing.
“They have allowed me to go part-time so I can spend more time on my playing career, which I’m very thankful for.”
Gill also paid credit to the team at Club Tocumwal for the presentation of the golf course and hospitality extended by everyone during the week.
“The course has been unreal every year and keeps getting better and better,” he added.
“I played golf as a junior here and so it was something special to take the win.”
The only player without an over-par round all week, Sheradyn Johnson (The National Golf Club) missed the playoff by just one stroke, ending her week with a round of 1-under 71 and 6-under total.
Damon Stephenson (69) and Jack Wright (73) shared fourth spot while Adam Naaman and Adam Migur shared the best score in the final round with rounds of 5-under 67.
