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As most players were pondering what might be on the menu for Christmas lunch and how long they could put the clubs away, David Micheluzzi was preparing to play the Sandbelt Invitational, as well as an important desert swing on the DP World Tour.
Teeing it up at his home club of Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club on Sunday ahead of the Geoff Ogilvy-Mike Clayton brainchild event getting underway today at Commonwealth Golf Club, Micheluzzi would have felt very positive about his chances.
However, the Cranbourne boy couldn’t have pictured what would eventually transpire during his casual warm up game, with Micheluzzi birdieing his final three holes to record golf’s magic number of 59.
Although not in an official Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia event like Connor McKinney just two days prior at the Gippsland Super 6, it still meant plenty to Micheluzzi who raised his arms and ran around the green after the final putt dropped and he finally broke the 60 barrier.
“I used all the putts yesterday and didn’t use any of them today, which was not smart. But any chance you have, any chance you have to shoot 59, you try and take it and I took it,” Micheluzzi joked after an even par opening round at the Sandbelt Invitational today.
“I think I’ve shot 61 at PK on both courses about a combined kind of 13 times. So I’ve been close here or there and got to do it with my mates as well.
“They’re guys that I grew up playing golf with and they were actually fortunate enough to see Ben Murphy’s 57 on the North. So the two guys that I played with yesterday have both seen 59s on both courses at ‘PK’, which was pretty cool.”
Making his score on the South Course, Micheluzzi made four birdies on the front nine to turn in 32 before he got hot coming home.
Birdieing the 10th and 11th, the 2022/2023 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit champion finished with some truly remarkable golf, the Victorian going birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie for a nine hole score of 27 and golf’s most elusive number of 59.
“The finish, we knew that I had to boot the last three and so we’re all trying to keep me not trying to lose my s*&t and just hit it in the right spots,” he said.”
“I holed a really good putt on 17 and we were just like, come on, let’s better your, let’s better your lasts. And then yeah, holed that putt and yeah, it was a lot of fun.”
Micheluzzi no doubt hoping some similar low scores continue at the Sandbelt Invitational where he shares 13th, five shots adrift of amateur co-leaders Kayu Mudadana and Ti Fox on 5-under.
