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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.
Murray River local Baxter Droop has come within a whisker of setting a new course record as he assumed top spot at the Victorian PGA Associate Championship at Club Tocumwal on Thursday.
Completing the Membership Pathway Program under his father, Evan Droop, at Yarrawonga Mulwala Resort just 30 minutes up the Murray, Droop surged to a two-stroke lead with a superb 8-under 64 in Round 3.
That was just one short of the course record at the Captain’s Course but, at 8-under heading into the final round, provides a handy two-shot buffer from 36-hole leader Jack Wright (72).
Sheradyn Johnson (70) is third at 5-under followed by Daniel Gill (68) with Toby Walker (67) and Joseph Hodgson (69) in a tie for fifth at 3-under.
Trailing Wright by seven shots after Round 2, Droop was just 2-under on his round as he made the turn. From there he threw the after-burners to max, making six birdies in his next eight holes with what he claimed was a very simple strategy.
“Just focused on hitting fairways, as cliché as it sounds,” Droop said.
“Spent some time on the range concentrating on my driver and 3-wood to get myself in the best positions off the tee.”
Late on day three it appeared likely that there would be a tie at the top heading into the final round, only for Wright to drop shots at each of his final two holes in his round of 72.
The NSW/ACT Associate champion in 2023, Wright looms as Droop’s greatest threat as he seeks to go two better than his third-place finish in this event 12 months ago.
Although he will start the final round seven shots off the lead, Victorian Associate Noah Best has produced one of the most remarkable performances of the championship.
An opening round of 9-over 81 put Best in a difficult position to make the cut but back-to-back rounds of 5-under 67 will see him start the final round inside the top 10 and in red figures.
Queensland’s Jack Wright has his sights set on a second state Associate Championship after establishing a one-stroke lead at the halfway mark of the Victorian PGA Associate Championship at Tocumwal Golf Club.
In a dominant first season in 2023, Wright claimed the NSW/ACT Associate Championship and finished runner-up in his home state.
With rounds of 71-67 at Tocumwal’s Captain’s Course, Wright leads at 6-under par, one stroke clear of Damon Stephenson (69-70) with Sheradyn Johnson (69-72) from The National Golf Club two strokes further back in outright third at 3-under
Trailing Baxter Droop by three after Round 1, Wright started his second round from the 10th hole and soared up the leaderboard with three straight birdies from the 12th hole.
He dropped a shot on 18 but it would be only a temporary setback, picking up shots on his inward nine at four, six and nine to shoot 5-under and assume top spot.
Stephenson had five birdies and three bogeys in his second round of 2-under 70 while Johnson bounced back impressively after starting day two with a double bogey. She played her back nine in 3-under 33 to remain in the hunt heading into Round 3.
Joining Wright, Zac Wood and Noah Best with the equal best round of the tournament to date was NSW Associate Cameron Shearer, who shot an impressive 6-under par 30 on his back nine to sit in a tie for sixth and just five shots off the lead.
Runner-up 12 months ago, Joel Mitchell is in a tie for fourth after rounds at 74-68, level with Wood at 2-under.
The cut fell at 7-over with 56 Associates advancing to the final two rounds.
Those in the Murray River region are welcome to watch some superb golf live in person or you can follow the live scores here.
Overnight leader Jack Wright had to birdie the final two holes to clinch the NSW/ACT PGA Associate Championship at Tura Beach Country Club on the NSW Sapphire Coast.
Two shots clear at the start of the final round, Wright extended his lead to three with a birdie at the par-5 second but would drop shots at four and seven to turn in 1-over.
A birdie on 11 arrested the slide but only momentarily, bogeys at 13 and 15 bringing the likes of Pymble’s William Bayliss into the mix.
One behind standing on the tee at the par-3 17th, the first year Associate at Coolangatta-Tweed Heads Golf Club hit a superb shot into 20 feet and then drained the putt to join Bayliss (71) at 5-under.
It made the equation on the 72nd hole a simple one; birdie the 425-metre par 5 and win the championship.
Wright was able to find the green in two shots and then two-putted for birdie and a one-stroke win, his even-par 73 and 6-under total enough to hold Bayliss at bay.
Luke Porritt (71) and Joe Kim (74) tied for the third at 3-under with Dean Forrest (73) rounding out the top five.
A winner of five Open matches in his first year in the Membership Pathway Program, the 26-year-old Wright now shapes as the man to beat at the Queensland PGA Associate Championship to be played at Windaroo Lakes Golf Course in Brisbane on October 9-12.
First year associate Jack Wright delivered one of the rounds of the day to push one stroke clear at the NSW/ACT PGA Associate Championship at Tura Beach Country Club on the NSW Sapphire Coast.
Based at Coolangatta-Tweed Heads Golf Club, Wright has won five Open matches already this year and earlier this month finished top-25 at the Tailor-Made Building Services NT PGA Championship.
He has brought that form to Tura Beach, bouncing back from an opening round of even par 73 that included a triple bogey to post 5-under 68 on Wednesday to be 5-under and leading by one.
First round leader Liam Reaper (73) is tied for second at 4-under with fellow Victorian Zac Wood, who matched Wright’s round of 5-under 68 to roar into contention.
Eleven players are within three strokes of the lead through 36 holes as 52 players made the cut to advance to the final two rounds.
Round of the day on Wednesday belonged to Wyong Golf Club’s Dylan Grogan, who went bogey-free in his 6-under 67, but shot of the day came from fellow Wyong Associate Joseph Liddle.
Playing the par-3 fifth hole, Liddle hit 6-iron, bounced once beyond the hole before spinning back for a hole-in-one, the first of his golfing life.
Round 3 gets underway from 7.30am from the first and 10th tees on Thursday with the lead group of Jack Wright, Liam Reaper and Zac Wood teeing off at 8.42am.
Three of this year’s State Associate Championship winners will go head-to-head at the NSW/ACT PGA Associate Championship starting Tuesday at Tura Beach Country Club on the New South Wales Sapphire Coast.
A total of 103 PGA Associates will tee it up from Tuesday vying for a slice of the $35,000 in prizemoney on offer.
Three players in particular will start the tournament full of confidence given their tournament success already this season.
Rosanna Golf Club’s Joel Mitchell comes in on the back of a dominant eight-stroke win at the WA PGA Associates Championship last week, one of three victories he has recorded in Membership Pathway Program events this year.
Prior to travelling to WA the Victorian won the Royal Melbourne Associate Invitational and he shared victory with Linus Yip at the Blacklocks Prestige Thurgoona PGA Associate Pro-Am in February.
Mitchell was also second at the Victorian PGA Associate Championship at Tocumwal Golf Club but was a distant seven shots from winner, Tim Walker.
A third year Associate at Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club, Walker was also victorious at The National PGA Associate Pro-Am in May and was 10th in this event 12 months ago.
With 73 of the 103 players in the field calling New South Wales home, William Bayliss shapes as the best hope among the locals.
Winner of the Tasmanian PGA Associate Championship at Barnbougle Dunes four weeks ago, Bayliss took that form to the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series where he finished tied for the win with Matt Stieger at the Gunnedah Pro-Am on April 11.
In his first year of the Membership Pathway Program at Pymble Golf Club on Sydney’s North Shore, Bayliss also boasts two runner-up finishes in Open Matches at Stonecutters Ridge and Pymble golf clubs this year.
Designed by five-time Open champion Peter Thomson, Tura Beach Country Club has the distinction of being Australia’s first golf course residential development and butts right up against Tura Beach.
The field will be cut to 50 plus ties following Wednesday’s second round with the winner to be crowned Friday afternoon.
Victorian Joel Mitchell has set his sights on more state success after cruising to an eight-stroke victory at the ADH Club Car WA PGA Associate Championship at Chequers Golf Club.
Runner-up at the Victorian PGA Associate Championship at Tocumwal in April, Mitchell took what appeared to be an unassailable six-stroke advantage into the fourth and final round on Tuesday.
That margin ballooned to eight when Lakelands Country Club Associate Daniel Hoeve double-bogeyed the first hole of the day, Mitchell maintaining his eight-stroke lead until the very end.
A third-year Associate at Rosanna Golf Club in Melbourne, Mitchell will now turn his attention to the NSW/ACT PGA Associate Championship at Tura Beach Country Club starting next Tuesday followed by the Queensland PGA Associate Championship in October.
It’s all part of making his final year as a PGA Associate one where he maximises his playing opportunities.
“I always had eyes for playing a lot more this year, especially late last year when I was having a bit of success in the pro-ams,” said Mitchell.
“I’ll keep that going for the rest of the year and hopefully win a couple more.
“All that’s changed really is that I’m playing more days during the week rather than playing a match on Monday and then trying to get to the range.
“A lot more golf during the week has helped.”
With Hoeve’s early stumble, a closing round of 2-over 73 and 2-under total was enough for Mitchell to record a comfortable win.
One-under through 12 holes, Mitchell dropped four shots in the space of three holes but steadied with a birdie at 16 to keep the likes of Hoeve at bay.
“I tend to be a very aggressive player so taking the foot off the gas is not a style I like,” Mitchell added.
“I tend to feel a bit claustrophobic when I’m doing that so I had to still be aggressive.
“The game plan doesn’t change at all, it’s more a case of not letting the lead slip and to try and build it if possible.
“Even though today’s result in terms of the individual round wasn’t amazing and not what I was looking for, there was a little bit of a hiccup late in the round but I was able to hold it together.”
After his unfortunate start Hoeve closed with a round of 4-over 75 to snare outright second, seven shots clear of Jeffrey Ahn (79) from Hartfield Country Club.
Victorian Joel Mitchell produced the round of the tournament in Round 2 and then bettered it by one to take complete command of the ADH Club Car WA PGA Associate Championship at Chequers Golf Club.
The tight, tree-lined layout 45 minutes north-east of Perth has provided a stern test to Associates from all around the country yet Mitchell mastered it on a 36-hole day two to move out to a six-stroke lead.
Tied with Daniel Hoeve (Lakelands Country Club) after Round 1, Mitchell shot 2-under 69 in Round 2 on Monday morning and then went one better with a 3-under 68 in Round 3 to build a handy buffer heading into Tuesday’s final round.
“I had the driver on a string, which was really good,” said the third-year PGA Associate at Rosanna Golf Club in Melbourne.
“The course is extremely tight and the greens are very small so picking your spots is very important.
“I hit a lot more greens today which helped out the putting a little bit; wasn’t too much stress on those up-and-downs.
“Then you’re just waiting for the putts to drop and a few of them did today.”
Starting from the 10th tee, three birdies in the space of four holes on his back nine gave Mitchell a three-shot lead heading into Round 3.
It was on the front nine again where he excelled, picking up shots at three, six and eight before really separating himself from the field with an eagle at the par-5 10th.
Back-to-back bogeys at 12 and 13 gave the chasing pack a brief respite before he steadied with five straight pars to be 4-under through 54 holes.
“Through 10 everything was going pretty good. Driver was going nice and straight, putts were dropping,” Mitchell added.
“I made one little mistake going into that par 5 due to a poor second shot. The other bogey I didn’t really deserve so it wasn’t like it was getting into my head, more holding on to the round.”
Playing in WA for the first time, Mitchell was full of praise for the playing surfaces on offer at Chequers Golf Club.
“Never played in WA before and I’m very impressed,” he said.
“They’re the best fairways I’ve played on in a while in terms of kikuyu. This is awesome to play on some good fairways.
“The greens are challenging. They’re a very, very strong grass so that is a challenge but other than that it’s been working for the week.”
The final round begins at 7.30am AWST with the final group of Mitchell (-4), Hoeve (+2) and Jeffrey Ahn (+5) to tee off at 8.18am.
Daniel Hoeve and Joel Mitchell will start Round 2 two shots clear of the field after the pair delivered the best scores on day one of the ADH Club Car WA PGA Associate Championship.
With three-time defending champion Josh Herrero now a full PGA Member, the small yet competitive field are fighting it out to add their name to an honour roll that also boasts Ritchie Smith, coach of Minjee Lee, Min Woo Lee and Hannah Green, among others.
The Chequers Golf Club 45 minutes north-east of Perth more than held its own in Round 1, Hoeve and Mitchell navigating the tight fairways and small greens best with rounds of 1-over 72.
Based at Lakelands Country Club, Hoeve had just the one birdie and two bogeys in his round, his patient approach not yielding the results he might have hoped on the greens.
“Quite a few two-putts. Hit quite a few greens in regulation,” was Hoeve’s summary.
“It’s pretty narrow. Tiny targets, tiny greens, greens are tricky to read. Condition-wise the course was great, you’ve just got to keep it in play.
“Hit fairways, hit greens in regulation and if you’re on the green you’re not going to have too long of a putt.”
Like Hoeve, Mitchell had two bogeys and a birdie in his round of 72, his birdie coming at his very first hole, the par-5 10th.
A third year PGA Associate at Rosanna Golf Club in Victoria, Mitchell dropped back to even par with a bogey at the par-4 16th and then joined Hoeve at 1-over with a dropped shot at the par-5 sixth.
Three players are in a share of third at 3-over 74, Fritz Arnold (Lake Karrinyup Country Club), Arno Madel (Busselton Golf Club) and Mitchell Jovic (Royal Perth Golf Club) all two strokes off the lead.
PGA Associates from Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria are competing to claim the WA PGA Associate crown, 84 amateurs playing alongside them in Round 1 on Sunday.
Players will complete 36 holes on Monday with Round 2 to tee off from 7am and Round 3 12pm AWST.
