Yarrawonga Mulwala Resort Trainee Frazer Droop has shown why he won this tournament two years ago, recording an equal tournament best score of 66.

The 2017 champ went bogey free and recorded six birdies to shoot 6-under for the day and now finds himself 11-under for the tournament.

“I was happy with my round today,” said the 22-year-old.

“I felt like I was building towards this. I was playing ok over the past two days, but wasn’t quite scoring so it was pleasing to see a few roll in and post a good score today.”

Droop now has a 3-shot lead over Travis Tatt, who fell one shot back after shooting a third round score of 73, but he knows he’ll have to play well to win tomorrow.

“It’s not over by a long shot. A lot of these guys have already had some great rounds this week, so I’m going to have to play well and shoot another good score to be any chance that’s for sure.”

Moving day lived up to its name early with Victoria Park Trainee, Cooper Eccleston and defending champion, Brayden Petersen both making moves, shooting 68 and 69 respectively.

Cromer Trainee, Matthew Grenot, had more than one reason to celebrate as he shot an impressive 69 on his 21^st birthday to slide into the top-10.

The two female Trainees that made the cut, Emily Pell from Yarra Bend and Joanna Flaherty from Commonwealth, both put in strong performances shooting 2-over, 74.

Joining Droop in the final group is Travis Tatt (-7) and reigning champion Brayden Petersen (-5), who will follow Dale Crothers, Cooper Eccelston and Thomas Biron who are all still in contention at 4-under.

The final round commences at 7am.

Ballarat Golf Club Trainee Travis Tatt has continued his round one form with an equal best round of the day at 69 to take the lead after round two at the Rich River Trainee Classic.

Starting the day one shot back, Travis showed maturity and restraint to leap frog the overnight leader, Dale Crothers, who finished at 7-under after shooting 1-under 71.

“I really had to think my way around today,” Tatt said.

“I left the driver in the bag quite a few times to make sure I found the fairway. Out here, if you miss the fairway you can find trouble quite easily.”

Tatt, who is entering the PGA Trainee Program at the age of 41, showed every piece of experience to record the equal best round in trying conditions.

“It was definitely tougher out there today.

“The greens are getting a little harder and quicker, so you had to adjust.”

Sharing the day’s honours as the only other player to break 70 was Gisborne Golf Club Trainee Joel Ward, who now is equal sixth on 2-under.

Putting in another solid performance was 2017 Champion, Frazer Droop, who kept himself well within striking distance at 5-under, three shots back after finishing with a 2-under 70.

Two NSW trainees round out the top five, with Goulbourn Trainee Luke Humpries and Port Macquarie Trainee Thomas Biron both finishing at 3-under after a 73 and 70 respectively.

A peloton of chasers then follow at 2-under, including defending champion Brayden Petersen.

Moving day gets underway from 7am.

Murray region local Dale Crothers has opened the Rich River Trainee Classic with a blistering first round of 6-under 66.

The first year Trainee from Yarrawonga Mulwala Resort had a blemish free round featuring four birdies and an eagle on the par-5 5^th hole.

“I was obviously really happy with my round today,” said the 22 year old.

“I hit the ball pretty consistently, but the putter was running hot which made the difference today I think.”

The first round got off to flyer for Ballarat Golf Club first year Trainee, Travis Tatt, who came in from the afternoon field at 5-under par, just one shot off the lead.

As the weather heated up so did the scoring with Goulbourn Trainee Luke Humphries, finding himself 4-under through the turn after holing out for an eagle on the par-4, 4^th hole.

Fellow Yarrawonga Mulwala Resort Trainee and 2017 Rich River Champion, Frazer Droop, opened his tournament with an impressive 3-under par.

Third year Trainee, Jamie Stapleton also went in the red, shooting 1-under par.

The female competitors in this year’s field are strongly represented with nine Trainees taking part, two of which have started with strong opening rounds of 1-over 73.

Johanna Flaherty, a first year Trainee from Commonwealth Golf Club who won the first Victorian Trainee event in 2019 and Janette Borgolotto from Heidelberg Golf Club put in solid performances to sneak in to the top 20 heading into round two.

Last year’s champion, Brayden Petersen kept the leaders within reach, shooting 2-under 70 to start his title defence.

“It was a good start,” said the Asquith Trainee, “but I definitely left a few out there.”

“I love playing here at Rich River.

“The course is looking even better than last year, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully improving on today.”

The tournament, which sees its 32^nd year at the Rich River layout got underway with a jam packed pro-am and the much anticipated Doug Fraser Memorial Longest Drive Competition, which was won this year by NSW Trainee, Matt Grenot, with a winning drive of 318m.

Round two kicks off on Wednesday from 7:15am.

Perfect conditions greeted the PGA Trainees as they made their way to the tee this morning for day three of the Rich River Trainee Classic.

Players took advantage of the calm conditions and the absence of the wind, which the locals call the Moama Doctor, resulted in better scores. Second year PGA Trainee from Yarra Bend Golf Club James Betts, was in early with an under par round of 70 before Kew Country Club’s  first year  PGA Trainee Benjamin Morgan went one lower at 69.

Allan Haughie, first year PGA Trainee from New South Wales Golf Club maintained his form from yesterday with a very solid 6-under 66 to equal the current Rich River East Course record.

“I was just able to keep the momentum going from yesterday and the easier conditions meant easier scoring,” said Haughie.

Today’s score sees Haughie sitting at 4-under the card and outright second place on the leaderboard.

However, the round of the day belonged to Asquith Golf Club’s first year PGA Trainee Professional, Brayden Petersen who took full advantage of the conditions shooting a very impressive 8-under 64 to break the Rich River East Course record by two shots.

“I kept the ball in play and dropped a lot of birdies with my putter running hot today,” said Petersen.

With a round that included a total of nine birdies, four consecutively on the front-9, Petersen sits comfortably at the top of the leaderboard at 9-under the card.

With nine shots separating the leaders from the rest of the field it should prove a battle between the leaders for the prize purse and the Rich River Trainee Classic title.

At 9-under the card and holding a five shot lead, perfect conditions awaited Brayden Petersen, first year PGA Trainee from Asquith Golf Club in New South Wales as he stepped onto the tee this morning to complete his final round of the Rich River Trainee Classic.

Petersen needed to hold his nerve however, when Allan Haughie, another first year PGA Trainee, from New South Wales Golf Club mounted an early challenge clawing two shots back over the first two holes before a bogey on the 7^th hole and a double bogey on 8^th hole relieved the pressure and put Petersen back in control.

Petersen responded well with three consecutive birdies on the 9^th, 10^th and 11^th holes to extend his lead and come home comfortably to finish seven clear at 12-under the card.

“I just tried to keep the ball in play off the tee the whole week which I did well and my short game was unreal right throughout the week,” said Petersen.

He also praised the Rich River Golf Club Resort on their course, describing it as being “in immaculate condition.”.

Haughie held on to second position at 5-under the card while Zac Fuller, third year PGA Trainee from Sandy Field Golf Club in South Australia took out third with a final round of 3-under 69 for his 2-over the card total.

For full scores visit pga.org.au.

The blustery winds continued throughout the morning on day two of the 2018 Rich River Trainee Classic at the beautiful Rich River Golf Resort.

Tournament leader Brayden Petersen from Asquith Golf Club in New South Wales returned a solid 2-over 74 in the challenging conditions to hold an early lead before The National Golf Club – Long Island Course PGA Trainee Sahil Sahib carded an impressive even par round to take a one shot lead at the completion of round two.

Mitchell Gannon from Kogarah Golf Club in New South Wales was the best of the afternoon field fighting hard against 40km/hr winds and finishing with a 2-over 74.

The round of the day went to Allan Haughie, first year PGA Trainee from New South Wales Golf Club with a 2-under 70. Describing the conditions as terribly tough, Haughie said he fought hard and capitalised on any downwind advantages he could.

With 54 players making the cut and continuing through to round three, the warm and calm conditions expected for the remainder of the week will be welcomed by everyone in the field who will be looking to shoot low numbers.

The Rich River Trainee Classic teed off with a pro-am day enjoyed by 230 Rich River Golf Resort members, guests, sponsors and PGA Trainee Professionals.

At the conclusion of play, spectators lined the 1^st tee for the running of the annual Doug Fraser Memorial Long Drive Competition.

Steven Loader one of the Head PGA Professionals at the Rich River Golf Resort described Doug as, “a friend and mentor to both members and PGA Trainees during his life.”  He told the crowd that, “Doug was a big hitter and the Long Drive Competition was a fitting way to remember his long standing contribution to the Club.”

After a tightly fought contest, third year PGA Trainee Professional Aaron Attwell from Mandalay Golf Club in Victoria bombed a massive 320.43 metre drive straight down the line to take the $500 prize and add his name to the shield.

Although an early forecast for round 1 predicted a high of up to 40 degrees, a last minute weather change provided a cool drizzly morning for PGA Trainee Professionals as they took to the tee for the first round of the Rich River Trainee Classic.

As the rain persisted, scoring proved challenging.  Third year PGA Trainee Professional Tyler Marotti from Leongatha Golf Club in Victoria fought hard to return the best score of the morning, a 1-under 71, with Zac Fuller from Sandy Creek in South Australia the next best and one shot behind.

The afternoon field were treated to sunshine but as a trade off were faced with stronger winds.  First year PGA Trainee Professional, Brayden Petersen from Asquith Golf Club in New South Wales played very steady golf, handling the conditions well to card six birdies for a 3-under 69 to take the overall lead.

Sahil Sahib, a third year PGA Trainee Professional from the National Golf Club – Long Island, also fared well to be second overall with a 2-under 70.

With the wind expected to bluster again for the second round it will be another testing day for PGA Trainees at Rich River.

Excitement is building among PGA Trainee Professionals with the Rich River PGA Trainee Classic set to take place from 30 January – 2 February at the beautiful Rich River Golf Club Resort located on the Murray River in Moama NSW.

For over 30 years the event has proved to be an ideal platform for PGA Trainees looking to pursue a career as a Professional golfer on the worldwide golf Tours, with past winners including 2008 Australian Masters Champion Rod Pampling, 2008 NSW PGA Champion Tim Wood, 2004 Jacobs Creek Open Champion Euan Walters, Queensland National Coach Tony Meyer and current ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Professional Jack Wilson.

Administered by the PGA Academy with significant and valued support from the Rich River Golf Club Resort, the Trainee Classic is one of only two National PGA Trainee events which see both men and women competing in the same event for the same title and prize purse.

The 2018 Rich River PGA Trainee Classic is a four round event comprising of PGA Trainee Professionals from across Australia. The top-50 players, plus ties after two days play will compete in the final two rounds for the title of 2018 Rich River PGA Trainee Champion.

With over 30% of the field being made up of first year PGA Trainees we look forward to seeing who can prove themselves contenders amongst the more established names in the field.