A field featuring multiple Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia players descended on Lynwood Country Club in Sydney’s west for the two day event where Dillon Hart, Christopher Wood, Josh Armstrong, Samuel Slater, Scott Arnold and James Conran emerged victorious.

Somewhat remarkably, none of the six eventual winners had shared the lead after Round 1, before finishing on a 36-hole total of 3-under 141, with Hart authoring the biggest second round swing by improving his score by five shots for a 68.

HOW THE WINNING ROUNDS UNFOLDED

In windy conditions with penalising rough punishing wayward driving and greens rolling 11-feet on the stimpmeter, it was about minimising mistakes, with all six winners still having their moments during the final round.

For Hart, he mixed five birdies with one bogey, his most important birdie coming at the par-3 17^th having dropped a shot two holes earlier, while Wood got off to an up and down start with back-to-back birdies to start the round negated by a double bogey at the fifth. The Queenslander making three birdies on the back nine, including at the 18^th to join the winning group.

Armstrong’s length off the tee would have felt like a weapon as he reached the closing stretches, with two par-5s in the last three holes, but the Concord Golf Club member could only manage pars having also bogeyed the 15^th.

Queenslander Slater is another with prodigious length, and used it on his way five birdies in his first 10 holes, but the par-5 16^th saw him go from 5-under with victory on his own in his sights back to 3-under.

Now spending 40 hours a week in a Pro Shop, Arnold saved his best for last to get a share of the spoils having matched every one of his three birdies with a bogey throughout the final day. Arnold birdieing the 18^th for a second day in a row to join the large winners’ picture.

Conran also needed birdie at the last to reach 3-under and victory, with the New South Welshman coming home strongest of the winning six. Double bogey at the sixth was mixed with eight pars on the front nine before Conran made four birdies in seven holes to finish his competitive year.

WHAT THE WINNERS SAID

Scott Arnold: “I think the course in great nick, and it’s set up pretty well for sort of an event like this, so it is pretty scoreable. There was a bit of wind yesterday and a bit of wind today and the pins are a bit tricky so it sort of made scoring a bit tough but I’m really pleased with how I played considering I’m spending 40 hours a week in a shop now and not really doing any practise.”

Josh Armstrong: “Very ready for a break. I feel like I’ve been playing okay. It’s sort of been frustrating because I’ve been making a lot of silly decisions, but definitely a little bit of that yesterday. But I did that up a little today and played pretty solidly all day. I’ve got good memories here. I spend a lot of time out here. I always enjoyed coming back.”

James Conran: “I mean, Lynwood is always enjoyable to play. It’s always in pretty good condition. The greens are pretty true. It’s just been a bit of a bother with the wind the last two days and the heat, but the course presented itself pretty good.”

Dillon Hart: “Just found some form in my swing. Made an adjustment with the coach and yeah, started to find ball striking, which sort of led into some putting stuff that’s come off as well and starting to build a conference with it.”

Samuel Slater: “The big goal for me is actually getting a Tour category for next year. That’s the main thing I’ve been focusing on. So playing these Pro-Ams and playing well in Tour events as well. So hopefully we can get a couple more decent results on the board.”

Christopher Wood: “Definitely nice to have a win in the last event of the year. To be honest, the year’s been a bit slow, but it was nice to sort of play well the last couple of weeks and finish it off here with a win.”

LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
T1      Dillon Hart    141
T1      Christopher Wood      141
T1      Samuel Slater              141
T1      Josh Armstrong          141
T1       Scott Arnold             141
T1       James Conran              141
T7       Joseph Owen           142
T7       Nathan Barbieri            142
T7       Andrew Richards         142

NEXT UP

The adidas PGA Pro-Am Series is now in its Christmas and New Year break and returns to action on January 3 at Harcourts Langwarrin Pro-Am @ Settlers Run.