Jarryd Felton has set the early pace at the AVJennings NSW Open shooting 6-under 66 this morning.

It continues a strong showing for the West Australian at the Twins Creek Golf and Country Club after he finished tied 6^th at the tournament last year.

“I don’t normally make that many birdies, but I made them today so hopefully I can keep it going over the next three days,” said Felton.

“I had four birdies in a row. I birdied probably one of the hardest holes today, the par-3 14^th and then got on a bit of a run.

“I was feeling really confident through that stretch and then lipped out on the last so it could have been even better but I am very happy with 6-under.”

Today’s performance also signals a turnaround in form with the flat stick for Felton, just in time for the last three events of the year on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.

“I only missed one green today so I gave myself a lot of chances. They paid off at the end of the day, I made some nice putts. My putting has been horrific lately so it’s nice to see it turn around,” added Felton, who rolled in a 40 foot birdie putt on the par-5 15^th.

“The greens are rolling so good that you feel like you should be holing 30 footers but they are soft as well so you can go at the flags.

“The course is softer this year so you’re having a lot longer shots in but I don’t think that makes much of a difference.

“I like this layout, its open off the tee but you still need to take the right lines.”

Sitting just one shot further back on 5-under the card is recent Victorian PGA Champion Aaron Pike who arrived at the course just 10 minutes before his 7.15am tee time after a mix up with his alarm.

“I had a bit of a rough start today. Jack Munro who I am staying with slept through his alarm and my phone software updated overnight and my alarm turned itself off. So I only got here with 10 minutes to spare, it wasn’t the greatest preparation, it wasn’t a good look,” said Pike.

“But we got here in time, I am not sure how Jack went, but I was feeling good and playing nice. I got to hit a few balls to warm up. I am going to buy an alarm tonight!”

Also shooting 5-under 67 in the opening round was Jake Higginbottom, Ashley Hall, Jordan Mullaney and Blake Proverbs.

The afternoon field is now on course.

Congratulations to Aaron Pike on winning the Vic PGA and earning his first victory on Tour. Although TI did not pick Pikey, I am pleased for the big fella who has battled injury and really worked hard to get into the winner’s circle. Although TI did not participate in the celebrations I am of the opinion they were quite large.

TI has mixed emotions arriving at Mt Lawley this week as last year I tipped Stephen Leaney from left field to win the event but didn’t invest in any of the 40/1 odds that were on offer. As is the case with the bookies they are clued in now and Mr Leaney is 15/1 and for the record, TI believes he is a great chance to go back-to-back.

This week I am going to look at a mainly WA flavour through my tips.

Jarryd Felton – we all know he is one of TI’s favourites so no surprise he gets the top pick this week. However, regular readers would know that TI rarely picks a favourite for the top pick so I must really fancy the little fella this week. He has won a couple of times on Tour already and will be high on the leaderboard at the end of this week.

Rick Kulacz – another of WA’s finest. The mad Hawks supporter would love nothing more than to drive away with the trophy in his lime green Falcon with the Hawthorn Football Club number plate on Sunday night. TI knows Rick is a very talented player and after a few years of grinding away without much success, TI believes Rick is close to getting back to his best. His best is clearly good enough to win this event as he competed with success on the European Tour not too long ago.

Max McCardle – not from WA but a very experienced player. It would be a little cheeky to call him a veteran (TI has noticed some grey’s sneaking through) but among the field this week he is certainly one of the older players. Max has been playing quite well in the last few years and really only needs to take the final step and record a win. TI will not be surprised to see Max at the top of the leaderboard this week.

James Nitties – TI sees his link to WA as the great performance in the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth early this year. I don’t believe James has been back to WA since and no doubt he enjoyed hopping off the plane earlier this week and I’m sure the good vibes returned. The proud Dallas Cowboy fan celebrated a birthday this week and he may just go one better in the west this week.

Zach Murray – TI fully expects a few of the talented amateurs in the field to perform very well this week but thinks that Zach may just be the best of them come Sunday night. He performed well at The US Amateur this year and I’m sure he gained a lot of confidence from that performance. TI is aware he has dad Craig on the bag and this can only be a positive influence throughout the week.

TI would be doing readers a disservice if I didn’t mention Matt Millar, Daniel Nisbet, Cameron John and Damien Jordan as legitimate chances this week given their form this year. I also think young Blake Proverbs from Queensland may be a good value bet and Kieran Pratt and Matt Jager are better players than what has been posted by some betting agencies.

The fight for the amateur trophy could come down to some of WA’s 18 and under brigade Hopewell, McKinney, Greer, Brady, Geddes, Fewkes and De Sousa are all quality players and well worth watching for the local fans. However, the older and more established amateurs Micheluzzi, Windred, Dann and Armstrong will be keen to teach these young guns a thing or two.

Mt Lawley is in great condition with the greens quite firm and it shapes up to be a great event.

West Australian Jarryd Felton has continued his love affair with the Kalgoorlie Golf Course in the second round of the TX Civil and Logistics WA PGA Championship.

Starting the day one shot off the lead, Felton teed up in the afternoon and made the most of the good conditions.

He fired 4-under 68 to be 9-under the card after two rounds and leading into the weekend by a shot.

“I have a great feeling about this place and it just suits my eye a lot. I just love playing here,” said Felton who has made just two bogeys in 36 holes.

“I got off to a slow start, I struggled with the pace of the greens but I got the hang of it on the front-9 and made a lot of birdies.”

A two time winner on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia, Felton has an impressive record at the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship finishing in the top-10 each of the four times he has played.

“I want to win here really badly but I can’t think about that yet,” added Felton.

“I just have to keep doing what I am doing; just play to the middle of the greens, take my putts when I can and birdie the holes that I make good shots on.

“I have been in this position before; hopefully I can continue on tomorrow and shoot a nice round to kick on for Sunday.”

Sitting a shot behind Felton is fellow West Australian Brody Martin who also fired 4-under 68 today.

Oates Vic Open champion Simon Hawkes lurks a shot further back on 7-under the card after he recorded the round of the day; 6-under 66.

Playing in the morning field Queenslander Daniel McGraw shot 4-under 68 to be 6-under the card and fourth after two rounds.

Matching Hawkes’ score in the second round, Victorian Josh Younger rounds out the top-5 on 5-under the card and is joined on the leaderboard by Andrew Martin (VIC), Michael Long (NZ) and Jake Higginbottom (NSW).

The second round cut at the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship was made at 3-over the card with 50 professionals and one amateur making the weekend rounds.

The third round of the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship tees off at 7.44am with the final group of Jarryd Felton and Brody Martin on course at 9.45am.

Jarryd Felton has an enviable record at Kalgoorlie Golf Course and following the first round of the 2018 TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship he is well placed to add to it.

This is the fifth time Felton has played the layout since making his debut in the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship as an amateur in 2014.

All four times he has teed it up, Felton has finished inside the top-10 of his state PGA title.

With arguably the best track record at Kalgoorlie Golf Course of anyone in the field this week, Felton showed his prowess again this morning.

He fired 5-under 67 to be leading after the morning field of the first round.

“This is my fifth year; I first played as an amateur and played really well. I love the place, I love the course, it suits my eye really well so I’m really trying to keep my record of top-10s going,” said Felton.

“I am very happy with that round, in the windy conditions. It took a while to warm up; it was cold this morning, so I was just pacing myself on the front-9 to get a feel for it.

“Then you just have to hold on, there are some tough holes on the back-9. I played well there and made a few birdies which was great.”

Felton reeled off five birdies in his round, the pick of the bunch coming at the par-3 8^th, where on Sunday a gold nugget is on offer for an ace.

“My birdie on the 8^th was pretty good, it’s a par-3 and I lipped out. I nearly had a hole-in-one,” added Felton.

“I was thinking when I lipped out that I have another chance on Sunday.”

Sitting a shot further back of Felton are Jake McLeod (QLD), Michael Wright (QLD), and Brody Martin (WA).

Meanwhile in his debut at the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship, Jake Higginbottom fired 3-under 69 to be inside the top-10.

The afternoon field is now out on course.

Jarryd Felton, a two time winner on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia will defend a title for the first time at the Horizon Golf NZ PGA Championship this week.

Still the current reigning NSW PGA Champion, Felton returns to Manawatu Golf Club in Palmerston North, New Zealand with fond memories of his victory here last year.

“I’m feeling pretty happy to be back here, I have a lot of good memories, especially of how I played on the back-9 last year and obviously in the play off,” said Felton, who defeated Josh Younger and Ben Campbell in a playoff after he fired a final round of 4-under 67 in 2017.

“Coming down the stretch I was pretty solid and I was playing with Josh (Younger) as well. So it was really good play.

“Winning once, people kind of think it’s a fluke but winning twice kind of showed everyone and me, that I’m good enough to do it. So lots of good memories and hopefully I do it again this week.”

Having re-acquainted himself with the course in a practice round on Tuesday, playing alongside Adam Burdett and against James and Anthony Marchesani, Felton remembered why the layout suited his game and even got his first win for the week in the friendly match.

“I had some good company in the practice round and we took the money off the boys so I already have a little W on the board this week,” added Felton.

“I just love this course and everything about the place. It’s really tight so it’s a really good ball striker’s course. If you hit the greens you can have good chance to birdie.

“I did that in the practice round and hopefully I can do it the rest of the week.”

While lifting the trophy again is on Felton’s mind so too is the European Tour as he focuses his 2018 season around preparing for a tilt at Qualifying School later in the year.

“I know I held the trophy last year but it’s just another tournament really, we’re all just out here trying to play well,” added Felton.

“I played well at the Vic Open and in Perth; I just didn’t do enough to make the third round cuts and then I played pretty poorly last week.

“I’m trying to work on a few things, on and off the golf course, to get everything all tip top ready for European Tour School at end of the year.

Felton will have extra motivation to play well this week after watching his girlfriend, Hannah Green, finish tied third at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Australian Open last week.

“She’s definitely kicking my butt,” joked a clearly competitive Felton.

“She’s playing really well and she deserves it, she has put a lot of hard work in and it just shows that she can do it.”

Felton will tee off his Horizon Golf NZ PGA Championship title defence at 12.30pm local time on Thursday 22^nd February playing alongside Kiwis Mark Brown and Tim Wilkinson.

The Horizon Golf NZ PGA Championship will be played at Manawatu Golf Club from 22-25 February.

Round one tee times are available at pga.org.au.

Entry to Manawatu Golf Club is free all week to the public.