Charlie Dann (11-under, 64)

On his form since the tour’s resumption in January

“I started well at the first event, the Super 6, I got myself up the leaderboard to second or something through the second round. I noticed that my game was where I wanted it to be from that first week and dropped off a little coming in before finishing top 15. That gave me a little bit of confidence moving forward that what I’d done through COVID was on the right track. The conditions at Rosebud kind of got me and then Moonah Links I did a good job. I don’t hit it very long and I think it helps to be long around there but I plotted my around nicely. It was good to have that momentum. The scores were consistently under par and kept chipping away coming into the pro-ams and started those off nicely as well.”

On his first round, a 4-under 67

“I’ve been travelling with James Grierson and we’ve probably only had five or six days off since mid-January. I kind of flat-lined yesterday and I’ve noticed that a little bit because I’ve played a lot of golf lately. I’ve kind of done that a few times where I flat-line through the middle. I start quite well usually and it’s all about whether I can get a couple of momentum putts going through the middle of the round determines how I play through the end. To be 4-under was pretty solid and then made the most of the conditions this morning when it wasn’t that windy. The last nine holes got quite windy and this afternoon looks pretty scary so I got my score going early and plotted my way around the back nine and hit some solid shots just trying to get into the weekend with something decent.”

On the highlights of his second round

“Nine was playing downwind today so it was a three-quarter 9-iron into the middle of the green, bounced a little left towards the pin and left me a 10-footer for eagle. That was a nice one to make and really good momentum to take into the back nine actually. Eleven was a really strong birdie in my opinion. It was playing cross-wind and I hit a flat 6-iron into the middle of the green and holed the putt up the tier from about 18 feet. That was a bonus in my mind. I wasn’t trying to make birdie on that hole, I was just trying to hit it to the right spot. The last three or four holes could have played tricky if you’d let them so I just played them pretty conservatively.”

On how Bonnie Doon compares to other courses he has played

“It reminds me a little bit of China just in terms of how much grass there is here and how thick and grainy it is. It doesn’t have the length of the China courses but the ball lands and stops basically where you hit it, it doesn’t roll out too much. If you can control your ball and land it in the right areas it’s OK.”

On keeping his PGA Tour of Australasia card

“I’m around 70th at the moment and I only crept up a little bit after the Moonah events. These next three weeks are pretty crucial for me for the next year. It would be really nice to hold an Aussie card at the least for the next 18 months going forward. These next few weeks are important to me for sure.”

Peter Wilson (11-under, 67)

On the tough conditions early in his round

“When I got here it was blowing 40 or 50 kays or something so it was really quite tough. I hit driver, 9-iron into the first hole yesterday and today it was driver, 3-wood. Obviously I got off to a rough start but I knew that seven, eight and nine were the easier down-wind holes so I just had to stay patient and wait for those holes to happen and I played them in 4-under again like I did yesterday.”

On how he was feeling after three bogeys

“I didn’t want to bogey five as well because that was the next one that was into the wind. I felt all right after I parred that one and I hit a good drive down the par-5 which I could reach in two. I had a two-putt birdie at seven and then hit it to three feet off the tee on eight and gave myself a mystery yardage on nine. I took it off instead of adding it on to the front edge but managed to get up-and-down for birdie. I hit 4-iron to four feet at 10 and made that one so that was good as well.”

On a swing tip from Jason Norris

“Norrey was helping me out on Tuesday and Wednesday and he’s got my game back on track. I’d better thank him. We’ve travelled together for most of our career and he noticed a swing key that I was struggling with. He worked on it with me on Wednesday and it felt really good and been good so far. It’s the type of course where you have to hit your irons into the right sections and with Norrey’s help my irons are a bit better this week.”

On his daughter Chloe’s win in a pennant match in Melbourne

“This morning my daughter won her first pennant match, so it was really cool to get that message before I teed off. She’s playing Division I for Cranbourne in the ladies pennant and she won on the 17th hole at Huntingdale. She started just before COVID and me and Marty Joyce have helped her along the process of getting a good golf swing and she’s gone from a 32 handicap to eight in about 12 months. She wants to be a professional so that’s cool.”

Travis Smyth (10-under, 65)

On his preparation leading into the event

“I had two weeks off and just practiced in Sydney and it was pretty harsh weather for the two weeks. Basically what we have here this week is exactly what I’ve been practising in for the last two weeks. We’re chipping 4-irons from 150, 160 metres and stuff like that. I’m very much used to that. I don’t feel uncomfortable doing that at all.”

On the summary of his play the first two days

“I’ve had two really hot nine-holes both days. I come out of the gates really well and both nines are definitely gettable but you still have to hole the putts. The way I’ve played on the back nine both days, I’ve played OK but for whatever reason the score’s just nowhere near as good as what I had on the first nine. Game feels pretty solid and the first nine holes this morning was amazing. It was so fun.”

On the conditions at Bonnie Doon

“With this wind you’ve got half the golf course into and half the golf course down-wind. If you just play the into-the-wind holes well, you’re going to shoot a good score. There are some driveable par 4s but for the most part the males are taking the same clubs and hitting it to the same spots. There is a little bit of risk-reward but I feel like everyone is doing the same thing.”

On his eagle at the par-5 14th

“That was insane. We had a 10-minute wait while the group in front was looking for golf balls and it was right at the point where the wind picked up from 10 km/h to 25 in a heartbeat. It felt like it was playing an extra club longer every minute that we waited. I just managed to carry the out-of-bounds right and gone into the bunker, hit it out with an 8-iron to 135 and then holed a 7-iron, little chip into the wind. One bounce and straight in.”

On familiarity with the windy conditions in Sydney

“Everyone should be pretty used to playing in the wind, but playing these holes into this wind, I’ve done it so many times that I know what to expect. I know the feels. It can be sometimes hard to pull a 4-iron from 160 metres because it feels like so much club but because I’ve done it four or five times before I know that the ball is not going to go as far as what some people might think. The downwind holes are easy, it’s the into-the-wind holes that can throw up some really tough 4 or 5-iron shots into some par 4s. They just play so long. I was hitting 4-iron from 150 metres, it was blowing.”

Josh Younger (10-under, 64)

On his closing eagle at the par-5 ninth

“I missed the green in the right-hand swale. Thankfully the pin was on the left and I opened up the lob wedge, hit a good chip and lucky enough it went in. I was a bit down-grain so that made it a little bit easier but had a bit of green to work with. Just had to hit a nice one and managed to do it.”

On thoughts after opening 68 on Thursday

“I made a bogey on my last hole so I was looking at a 4-under which I thought would have been pretty good. It was a solid start, something to build on. I definitely didn’t feel like I had to go out this morning and chase something. I played pretty good today and was able to be pretty patient and let things unfold. A lot of the talk at the start of the week was that the scores would be low and when I got here yesterday the wind had only just started to get up. You expect that there are going to be some good scores but I thought anything under par would be a good start I was pretty happy with 3-under.”

On his performances in four events in Victoria

“It was a little bit frustrating. I played pretty good at the first one back at Gippsland and I just felt like I was making some mistakes. I was getting a little bit angry with myself so that proves you’re making some silly mistakes and trying to force some things. I just never really clicked into gear for that month. I was home for a couple of weeks, worked on a couple of things and tried to simplify a few things and stay patient out here. So far it’s going all right.”

On the disruption in 2020 after a strong finish to 2019

“It’s been a kick in the guts for everyone but personally, to break through and get a win and then play good up in Asia two weeks later to get my card… things were looking promising schedule-wise. I went up to Asia for one week in March after the NZ Open and then everything shut down from then on. That feels a fair while ago. It’s been a strange old time for everyone so it’s nice to be able to get back and play some sort of golf. Enjoy it while we can.”

Jack Thompson (10-under, 66)

On reflecting on his first round as a professional on Thursday

“I was super happy with yesterday. I played very solid not having a bogey was nice – but the main thing was that I felt like I still left a few out there. I played solid but I didn’t play out of my skin and to have that score I was pretty happy with. I just thought the momentum would carry through to today which it did which was nice.”

On his bogey at the par-4 first on Friday

“Right as we teed off was probably the windiest it got all afternoon but had a 4-iron in and didn’t get up-and-down from the front. Apart from that it was pretty solid.”

On the changing conditions throughout the afternoon

“The first five or six holes felt quite tough and at that point if I thought I was going to have 5-under I would have said that was a pretty good score but as the day went on it dropped a little bit with the wind. Just tried to take advantage of the down-wind holes and really exploit those. It was actually easier as the day went on.”

On the highlights of his round

“I holed a good putt from around 20 feet at the last, so that will make dinner taste a bit better. Apart from that it was just solid, hitting a green under reg and a two-putt birdie was pretty standard for today. Apart from the 18th nothing too special.”

On his position near the top of the leaderboard in his pro debut

“It’s a nice feeling looking at the leaderboard and seeing your name up there, you never get sick of it. I’ve just got to continue on and keep doing what I’m doing good and see where we go from there.”

On nerves prior to first round as a professional

“Actually there was. I wouldn’t say I was super-nervous but just standard. I pulled my tee shot left on 10 and as I was walking up there I was still a little bit nervous and then I hit a really good shot into eight or nine feet and from that point on I felt so calm. It set the tone, to pull off a shot like that at the start. From then on I felt pretty calm.”

On his biggest win as an amateur

“I only won one and that was the Riversdale Cup in 2018. I was only just starting and hadn’t played that many men’s events at that time. I’ve had a lot of seconds so even though I didn’t get the job done it’s still nice to have the confidence from those that you’re always up there. If you keep doing that you’re going to snag a couple eventually. Even though losing in a playoff at the Queensland Open wasn’t ideal it was still nice to think that I could finish that high, even when I didn’t think my game was that great at that time.”

On how he’s scrambled the first two days

“I held it in there so well today. I missed three greens in a row in the morning on Thursday and the fact that they were slightly difficult, to get those three up-and-down was very nice. I don’t think I missed from inside six feet all day today, it was just so solid all day. It was one of those days with the putter where everything you looked at inside that distance I thought there was no way I was going to miss it.”

On his mother Cynthia being able to watch him on TV over the weekend

“She’s probably playing golf tomorrow so she might not be able to watch it. Maybe she can watch some replays and hopefully they’re good ones. She’s normally a 11-12 tee off so I think she’ll just have to watch the replays. Hopefully she flies around and can see the end of it.”