A two-stroke leader entering the final round at Lakelands Country Club, Dobson made early stumbles with bogeys at three and six to give Mitchell Jovic a sniff.

But Dobson would soon apply the after-burners and finish in true championship fashion, making five birdies in his final 11 holes to get back to even par for the week and clinch a victory to savour.

“It probably wasn’t even the birdies that got me going, it was the two putts I holed on 11 and 12,” Dobson said of his closing stretch.

“I hit poor tee shots and then had to basically just get it near the green. I hit a bunker shot on 11 that I thought was better than what it ended up and had to hole a 15-footer for par.

“The next, I hit an OK tee shot and then a second and then got an average lie in the bunker and then holed another 10-footer for par.

“Even though I had some good birdies, I think those were probably the big sway between myself and Mitch with still a fair few holes to go.

“If I don’t hole those putts, all of a sudden it’s only a one-shot lead or maybe even.

“It was nice to come home with a few birdies but I think it was just confidence from the two par putts that I holed.”

Jovic closed with 73 to take outright second with Matthew McLaughlin (72) and Kyle Novacek (76) tied for third.

The PGA of Australia would like to thank Lakelands Country Club, all of the sponsors and players for another fantastic event.

Final scores

The top eight from Monday’s 36-hole strokeplay qualifier received a bye in the Round 1 morning matches but by day’s end the top four seeds had all fallen to make the 21st edition of the Pampling Plate the most open yet.

Taken to two extra holes by Jack Jones in the morning matches, Justin Morley (Southport Golf Club) was 2 down early to Wunderlich and 3 down when they made the turn.

It was there that he turned the tournament on its head by winning the next four holes to transform a large deficit into a small advantage.

The match was all square when Wunderlich won the 15th hole but after the pair halved both 16 and 17, it was Morley who came to the fore, winning the 18th hole for a 1 up upset win.

“Reilly holed a really great birdie putt from the front of the green on 15 to get it back to square and then we both had pars on 16,” said Morley.

“Reilly made an awesome par after hitting his ball in the water on 17 and then clutched up on 18. Hit a really close one in there and thankfully made it to win 1 up on the last.

“It’s funny, when you sort of don’t have an option and you have to make the putt to continue on or to win the hole, your focus just somehow goes into that tunnel vision.

“It just happened to be.”

It was a surprisingly early end also to Conor Whitelock’s 2025 Pampling Plate hopes.

The strokeplay medallist last year and eventual runner-up, Whitelock entered the match play as the No.2 seed yet fell to Yevin Samararatne 2&1 in the afternoon matches.

An Associate at Mount Warren Park, Samararatne accounted for Adam Teale 2&1 in the morning matches and after winning the first hole against Whitelock was never headed, halving the 16th and 17th holes to advance to the quarter-finals with one hole to spare.

“I just came into the second round thinking, Just hit it as hard as I can. That was the goal,” said Samararatne.

“I was hitting it kind of wide in the first round so I was like, If we’re going to hit it wide, we might as well hit it hard.

“Honestly, Conor’s a really great player and it’s just a privilege to play with him. He played well, I just played a little bit better.”

The other two of the top four seeds, Queensland Order of Merit leader Jack Wright and Anthony Trimboli, also failed to advance past the Round of 16.

Wright fell to Noosa Golf Club Associate Bronson White 4&3 while Trimboli went down 7&5 to Caerwyn Ross from Pacific Harbour Golf Club.

It was the second big scalp of the day for White who also knocked off Campbell Jones 1 up in the morning, Jones currently No.4 in the Queensland Order of Merit standings.

“Pretty stoked,” said White.

“The first two days in the qualifying, couldn’t get much to the hole and struggled with the putter.

“Put some work in yesterday and this morning and yeah, got hot today and didn’t make many mistakes.”

The other players to advance were Jordan Rooke (6&5 over Kane Whitelock), Jordy McGarry (3&2 over Drew Herbert), Garry Kissick (3&2 over Jesse Fittler) and City Golf Club’s Minami Inoue (pictured), who went a marathon 26 holes before defeating James Bonnor at the eighth extra hole.

On the back of a 2&1 win in the morning, Bonnor played a total of 79 holes in two days, only to fall agonisingly short of advancing to the quarter-finals.

“Even though he played more holes than I did this morning and I only played 26 holes, but still a lot of holes and my mind’s bamboozled at the moment,” said Inoue.

Inoue was 2 up after two holes but Bonnor fought back to have the match square through nine holes.

The pair halved the next four holes before Bonnor won the 14th hole to take a 1 up lead, a lead that would only last two holes.

The final two holes of regulation were also halved and then the first seven holes of the playoff, Inoue finally breaking the stalemate at the 26th hole.

“I was putting from the fringe a lot and it’s actually paying off,” Inoue added.

“I’ve been having a bit of the yips with chipping and putting around the greens. I haven’t done it from 20 metres ever and I did today and it paid off, so that’s good.”

Quarter-finals draw

Runner-up to Lachlan Wood two years ago, Knox shot rounds of 70-68 for a 4-under total to finish one stroke ahead of defending champion, Reilly Wunderlich (Yamba).

Yet groomsman duties for his best friend’s wedding on Thursday meant that Knox had to give up his place in the match play, Wunderlich now to take the No.1 seed and poised to go back-to-back.

“Unfortunately, I can’t play the match play section as I am a groomsman at my best friend’s wedding which is on Thursday,” Knox revealed.

“That is a real bitter-sweet thing I need to deal with.

“I always play well here. I really love the layout as every hole is different and requires you think through every shot.

“My iron play and wedges were really good today and the greens are by far the best we have ever played here and up there with best we have played on all year.”

The top 24 players from qualifying have now advanced to the match play section, the top eight all receiving a bye in Tuesday morning’s matches.

Following the withdrawal of Knox, Kane Whitelock was handed the final spot and was up early in his match against Wade Edwards.

Runner-up to Wunderlich 12 months ago, Conor Whitelock shot 1-under in qualifying to finish in outright third as he looks to go one better in 2025.

Live scores

Yamba Golf Club’s Reilly Wunderlich was something of a surprise winner in 2024 and the combination of strokeplay and match play will once again throw up some upsets over the course of the next four days.

The top 24 players from today’s qualifier advance to the match play portion of the tournament, players to engage in two knockout matches per day leading up to the 36-hole showdown on Thursday for the last two standing.

A tournament that has received wonderful support from Rod and Angela Pampling for more than two decades, another highlight for Associates is the presence of Rod’s mother Marge, who goes above and beyond to make sure everyone is well fed over the course of the week.

Caboolture’s new Course Superintendent, Shaun O’Leary, has the course in superb condition, providing the ideal arena for Associates to showcase their skills.

While Wunderlich is hoping to go back-to-back, others expected to challenge include Jack Wright (Coolangatta-Tweed Heads), Wade Edwards (Toowoomba), Campbell Jones (Pacific), Minami Inoue (City), Drew Herbert (Sanctuary Cove) and Conor Whitelock (Brisbane).

Or, as we have seen many times over the past 20 years, a new name can step forward and join the honour roll.

Live scores

The final day of the 2025 event at The Pulpit Club in Canada saw the host PGA claim their second Four Nations Cup title with a 4-2 win over the Australians, going through undefeated to finish one match ahead of New Zealand with South Africa third.

Looking for their first match win of the week, the Australian team started the morning fourballs in positive fashion.

Sam Eaves and Mitchell Smith were all square with the Canadian pairing of Yohann Benson and Kevin Stinson at the turn but lost both the 10th and 11th holes, ultimately going down 3&1.

Up against Mitchell Fox and Craig Stefureak, captain Matt Docking and three-time Four Nations Cup representative TJ King were 2 up after winning the first and sixth holes. The Canadians got one back by winning the ninth hole but were never able to square the ledger, the Aussies ensuring the morning matches were split 1-1 with a 3&1 win.

Battling a neck injury all week, captain Matt Docking led the way in the afternoon singles with a gritty 1 up win over Mitchell Fox but there were defeats for each of his fellow countrymen as the PGA of Canada added to their inaugural win of 2023 in South Africa.

Although unable to win a match during the week, reigning PGA Professionals Championship winner Sam Eaves was grateful for an experience he hopes to enjoy again next year.

“It was a great week, great camaraderie between all the teams,” said Eaves.

“The format was awesome. Having the fourball matches in the morning and the singles matchplay in the afternoon, it’s not a format we get to play very often as Professionals.

“To be able to do this sort of format has been awesome.

“All the PGAs run a great event to be able to pull this all together. It’s fantastic to have this as something we can qualify for and definitely something I want to be part of again in future.”

In the second match of day three, New Zealand defeated South Africa 4-2.

Final standings
Canada            3 (13 points)
New Zealand    2 (10.50)
South Africa     1 (7.5)
Australia          0 (5)

Heavy rain in the morning forced the fourball matches to be reduced to nine-hole affairs with the Aussies and Kiwis splitting the matches one each.

The team of Matthew Docking and Sam Eaves never trailed in their fourball match against Sean Towndrow and Brett Allan but had to stave off a late Kiwi fightback to clinch the point.

Three-up through five holes, the Aussie pair lost three holes on the trot to be all square playing the ninth and final hole, Docking and Eaves both making threes to secure the point for their team.

TJ King and Mitch Smith went 1 up after the first hole in their match against Dongwoo Kang and Pieter Zwart, the Kiwis clawing their way back to all square at the very next hole.

The next five holes would all be halved until the Kiwis pinched the lead at the eighth hole and held on for a 1 up win.

King turned that result around in the afternoon singles with a commanding 4&3 win over Brett Allan but he would be the only Aussie victor.

Smith lost to Towndrow 4&3, Kang defeated Docking by the same margin and Eaves went down 5&4 to a red-hot Zwart.

The final round of matches will see the PGA of Australia face the host nation PGA of Canada and New Zealand to play South Africa.

The Kiwis can still win but would need their Aussie counterparts to conjure a final day upset and deny Canada a second Four Nation’s Cup win.

Standings
Canada            2 (9.5)
New Zealand    1 (6.5)
South Africa     1 (5.5)
Australia          0 (3)

Only an individual win by reigning PGA Professionals Championship winner Sam Eaves in the afternoon singles prevented the Aussies from suffering a clean sweep after South Africa took both morning fourball matches in tight contests.

Playing against Ivano Ficalbi and Jannie Botha, TJ King and Mitchell Smith went 8-under for their round yet still lost 1 down, Eaves and captain Matt Docking going down by the same narrow margin to Cornell Muller and Gavin Vorster.

One down after the second hole, King and Smith never got behind by more than two holes yet were unable to ever get back on level terms.

Smith narrowed the margin to just one hole with a birdie at the par-4 15th but, as Ficalbi held strong down the stretch, the Aussie pair could not claw back the hole they needed.

Docking and Eaves were engaged in a more see-sawing contest.

Also down one after the second hole, Docking and Eaves combined superbly to win the fourth, seventh and eighth holes to go 2 up.

The South African pair closed the gap to one by the turn and then drew level when they won the 11th hole.

Docking won the 13th hole to put the Aussies 1 up again before Muller won both the 15th and 17th holes to give the South Africans their second win of the morning.

Eaves exacted some revenge for the morning defeat with a commanding 4&3 win over Vorster in the afternoon singles, going 3 up through the first five holes and 5 up through nine to ensure an early finish.

Conversely, King was 3 down through five holes of his match against Ficalbi and was unable to claw it back, going down 6&4.

There was back and forth in the remaining two singles matches.

Smith was 1 up early against Muller and all square through 11 but lost both the 12th and 13th holes to fall 2 down. He pulled one back at the 15th but succumbed 2&1 when Muller won the 17th hole.

Two down through four, Docking won three holes in succession to be 1 up through seven, the match brought back to square when Botha won the 10th hole.

The South African won both the 13th and 15th holes and secured a 2&1 win with halved holes at both 16 and 17.

In the other matches, Canada and New Zealand split the morning fourballs with the home nation taking 2.5 of the four points on offer in the singles.

Day two sees Australia take on New Zealand and South Africa face Canada.

Scores

Standings
South Africa     5
Canada            3.5
New Zealand    2.5
Australia          1

Smith and reigning PGA Professionals Championship winner Samuel Eaves are the new faces in the PGA team that will be captained by four-time PPC champion Matt Docking and feature Mount Coolum Golf Club’s TJ King for a third time.

Canada is the host nation for the biennial matches between the respective PGAs of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, the Aussies out to defend the title they won at Moonah Links in 2023.

A graduate of the PGA’s Membership Pathway Program in 2023 and based at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club on the Gold Coast, Smith has been waiting for the chance to represent on the international stage since golf was readmitted to the Olympic Games.

“Not that I ever thought that I’d play the Olympics, but it’s one of those things where I was like, imagine how cool that would be to actually play golf for Australia,” said Smith.

“It’s not really something that you do too often. It’s always pretty individual in that you go on tour and you represent Australia, but realistically you’re representing yourself more than anything.

“This is the first time I actually tried to get in, so luckily I’ve gone through.

“It’s awesome from the PGA to be able to provide us with a pathway to still be competitive in that aspect because the reality is it’s not the be-all and end-all for us.

“It’s not our career. We’re not trying to make cuts to make money but still being able to go and scratch that competitive itch a little bit is really cool.”

While ready to embrace the opportunity to mix with PGA Professionals from Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, Smith’s focus is very much on a PGA of Australia win.

He has played a half dozen rounds of the course they will be playing at The Pulpit Club at a simulator centre in Cannon Hill in Brisbane and makes no secret of his willingness to come home a winner.

“To be honest, I’m a pretty competitive person by nature,” said Smith, who became a father for the first time a month ago.

“As much as the socialising stuff will be good and I’ll definitely be keen to do that more off the course, but in all honestly, on the course I want to beat everyone.

“I’ve still got that competitive burning in my belly, so first and foremost, want to win and then socialise afterwards.

“I am really looking forward to the team aspect with a good group of fellas going over, so looking forward to being a part of that aspect as well.”

King will be the familiar face for Smith, the pair having come through the Membership Pathway Program at a similar time and played events together on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series.

The one constant in the PGA of Australia team since the inception of the Four Nation’s Cup, King believes the contacts he has made has helped him back in his role at Mount Coolum.

“With the camaraderie amongst the players, you learn how different PGA associations run their businesses, their pro shops and coaching-wise, just get different ideas from all the other countries,” said King.

“At the end of the day, you want to win as well. During the 18 holes, there’s not much chat, but then afterwards the teams get together, have dinner together and chat.

“It’s awesome to find out how different people are doing the same job in different countries.”

The 2025 Four Nation’s Cup will be played at The Pulpit Club an hour outside Toronto from Tuesday.

Thursday threw the toughest conditions of the week at the 50 players who made the cut, only five players breaking par which included a superb 4-under 69 from Canberra’s Jacob Davies.

Highlighted by an eagle at the par-5 5th, Davies made birdies at 14, 17, and 18 with just a single blemish on the sixth to make a major move on the leaderboard.

At the top of that leaderboard is Concord Golf Club’s Joe Kim, who started Round 3 with four straight birdies before also succumbing to the strong winds on the run home.

Kim’s 2-under 71 and 1-under total gives him a one-stroke lead from 36-hole co-leader Jordan Garner (75) and Pacific Golf Club’s Campbell Jones, who has shot even-par 73 all three days of the championship.

A total of 12 players will start Friday’s final round within five strokes of Kim and, with coastal winds again expected to buffet Tura Beach, the door is open for a thrilling race to the finish.

First groups teed off at 7am on Friday morning with the lead group of Kim, Garner and Campbell scheduled to head out at 9:24am AEST.

Leaderboard