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Victorian David Bransdon has set the benchmark for the Isuzu Queensland Open with a record-setting round of 9-under 63 in round one at Pelican Waters Golf Club.
The 2015 Isuzu Queensland Open champion fired out of the tees with six birdies on the back-nine, including four straight from holes 13 to 16, followed by a further three on the front-nine to sit two shots clear of South Australian amateur Jack Thompson.
With the flat stick striking hot Bransdon made the most of calm morning conditions on the Sunshine Coast to set the new course record.
“I holed a couple of nice putts early and I hit a couple close and basically the putter was pretty good all day. Then I started hitting a few close ones and holed them as well,” Bransdon said.
“There aren’t a lot of drivers out here for me this week. I’m hitting a lot of hybrids and fairway woods just to keep it in play because it’s more strategic for me.
“They’re fairly wide the fairways but you need to be in the right part of the fairway to be able to attack the green. For my game, hybrids and 3-woods and then my iron play is normally very solid.”
Bransdon’s leading scorecard was not the only thing to highlight the round for Bransdon’s playing group of ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia veterans Jason Norris and Terry Pilkadaris.
Norris made an ace on the 159 meter par-3 6th hole with an 8-iron before closing out his round at even-par.
? Ace alert ?
— Golf Australia QLD (@GolfAustQLD) February 20, 2020
Jason Norris with a hole-in-one on the par-3 6th hole at Pelican Waters with an 8-iron ?
And an ultimate photobomb by Terry Pilkadaris ? pic.twitter.com/XOqJIanxuK
“I witnessed a hole-in-one with Norrey on the 6th so that was pretty cool. The scorer behind the green didn’t see it but we all thought it was funny,” he said.
“We were certainly relaxed. We’ve known each other for a long time so there was a bit of banter here and there.”
Superstitions arose for the 46-year-old prior to the tournament when posing for a photo with fellow Queensland Open winners Michael Sim, Jordan Zunic and Nick Cullen.
Bransdon citied bad luck for his reluctance to touch the T.B. Hunter Cup but it appears to have done little to slow him down.
“I don’t like normally doing that because I’m old and I think it is back luck touching it before you play for it but I’ve touched it before so it’s not a bad thing so maybe it’s a good sign this week,” he said.
“I didn’t expect this. I thought 9 to 13-under was going to win the tournament, I didn’t think 9 was out there in one day.”
Victorian David Bransdon has set the benchmark early in round one of the Isuzu Queensland Open with a record-setting round of 9-under 63 at Pelican Waters Golf Club.
The 2015 Isuzu Queensland Open champion fired out of the tees with six birdies on the back-nine, including four straight from holes 13 to 16, followed by a further three on the front-nine to sit two shots clear of South Australian amateur Jack Thompson.
With the flat stick striking hot Bransdon made the most of calm morning conditions on the Sunshine Coast.
“I holed a couple of nice putts early and I hit a couple close and basically the putter was pretty good all day. Then I started hitting a few close ones and holed them as well,” Bransdon said.
“There aren’t a lot of drivers out here for me this week. I’m hitting a lot of hybrids and fairway woods just to keep it in play because it’s more strategic for me.
“They’re fairly wide the fairways but you need to be in the right part of the fairway to be able to attack the green. For my game, hybrids and 3-woods and then my iron play is normally very solid.”
Bransdon’s leading scorecard was not the only thing to highlight the round for Bransdon’s playing group of ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia veterans Jason Norris and Terry Pilkadaris.
Norris made an ace on the 159 meter par-3 6th hole with an 8-iron before closing out his round at even-par.
“I witnessed a hole-in-one with Norrey on the 6th so that was pretty cool. The scorer behind the green didn’t see it but we all thought it was funny,” he said.
“We were certainly relaxed. We’ve known each other for a long time so there was a bit of banter here and there.”
Superstitions arose for the 46-year-old prior to the tournament when posing for a photo with fellow Queensland Open winners Michael Sim, Jordan Zunic and Nick Cullen.
Bransdon citied bad luck for his reluctance to touch the T.B. Hunter Cup but it appears to have done little to slow him down.
“I don’t like normally doing that because I’m old and I think it is back luck touching it before you play for it but I’ve touched it before so it’s not a bad thing so maybe it’s a good sign this week,” he said.
“I didn’t expect this. I thought 9 to 13-under was going to win the tournament, I didn’t think 9 was out there in one day.”
Amateur pair Thompson, of Adelaide, and Josh Armstrong, of Canberra, each had eight birdies and one bogey en route to opening rounds of 7-under 65.
“I think it’s always nice to get off to a good start. It’s nice to be in this event and play well in the first round,” Thompson said.
“I played pretty solid and a lot of the putts went in so my putting held it together and I chipped in on one of the holes so that always helps.
“I just wanted to back myself in. A bit before when I was just starting to play pro events I would probably get a bit nervous but now I think I’ve settled in and I just take it one hole at a time and have fun. When you’re having fun you’re generally playing pretty well.”
Low scores continued to roll in throughout the day with Brad Kennedy posting a round of 7-under 65, highlighted by a chip-in eagle at the par-five third hole, in the afternoon field.
Returning to the form that saw him lead through 54 holes at last week’s Coca-Cola Queensland PGA Championship, demons from the final round at Toowoomba were out of mind for the Queenslander who finished the day tied in second place alongside Thompson and Armstrong.
“It was one of those days today where I’m semi-motivated in terms of things that happened last week but at the same time didn’t put any pressure on myself and tried to go out there and do what I could,” Kennedy said.
“It was nice to get back and try and shoot a good score after last week and be in the hunt again.
“Hopefully we can get out tomorrow morning it’ll be a bit calmer and we can keep going deep because I’d imagine it’s going to take a fair good score to win this one.”
Form Queenslander Anthony Quayle and new pro Matias Sanchez carded opening 67s to share fourth before being joined by amateur Andre Lautee later in the day.
Round two of the Isuzu Queensland Open will begin at 6:30am on Friday at Pelican Waters Golf Club.
For the round one leaderboard and round two tee times visit pga.org.au.
