Hailing from Narrabri an hour north of Gunnedah, Matt Stieger knew what to expect from the Gunnedah layout while Will Bayliss, a first year PGA Associate at Pymble Golf Club, was coming in blind.

It mattered little by day’s end as the pair posted rounds of 4-under 66 to finish one clear of James Grierson (67) and Luke Ryan (67).

The 2012 NSW PGA champion, Stieger has tasted success previously at Gunnedah, winning in 2015 and finishing second in 2018 and 2019. He again revelled in being back among familiar faces on a course he knows well.

“I was fortunate enough to win this Pro-Am a few years ago so it’s always good to come back home and show my face,” said Stieger.

“There’s obviously a bit more pressure when everyone knows who you are so it’s good to come out and put together a win.

“Some of these holes, you stand up on the tee and look down the fairway and it doesn’t even look like there’s fairway there because it’s so tight.

“Growing up around here and playing around here was awesome and certainly gave me a little bit of local knowledge today.”

There was no such local knowledge for Bayliss who relied on stellar iron play and a hot putter to match Stieger’s tally.

Formerly based out of Manly Golf Club, Bayliss started the Membership Pathway Program at Pymble this year and was thrilled to test his game against seasoned tour players.

“It feels really good. Happy to be out here and to be given the opportunity as a first-year trainee to be able to play these pro-ams,” said Bayliss.

“Absolutely love having the ability to come out here and compete with these guys. Hopefully I can go on with it in the future.”

The small, saucer-style greens found on country courses may not be what Bayliss is accustomed to but Bayliss took to the Gunnedah putting surfaces with aplomb.

He played the four par 3s in 2-under par with a mix of good iron play and some lengthy birdie putts.

“The irons were on today so I was able to go at some pins that I wouldn’t normally go at,” said Bayliss.

“Mind you, if you just get it on the green here you’re going to have some 20-footers and I was able to hole a couple of those which helped to keep the momentum going.

“It was nice to hole a couple of putts and if I missed the green I was able to get up and down which certainly helped the score.”

The adidas PGA Pro-Am Series now has a short break before resuming with the 36-hole Better Homes Port Macquarie Pro-Am at Port Macquarie Golf Club from August 22.

Final scores and prizemoney