The second edition of the Nexus Risk Services WS6 Broome teed off on Tuesday morning at the stunning Broome Golf Club prior to this week’s Broome Furnishings Carpet Paint and Tile Open on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series.

With 16 teams made up of one professional and one amateur sponsor fighting it out to be the 2018 champions, players were excited by the day ahead.

This year saw three new rules implemented for the 6-hole 4-ball matchplay event:

• Two minutes to look for a ball
• Players are only allowed to mark their ball once on a green, either when they walk onto the green in which they’ll have to finish out the hole, or after their first putt allowing them to rest.
• Finally, players have one minute to hit their shot starting from the moment the previous player has hit their shot, not from when they are in position to hit.

For the second year running, the Nexus Risk Services WS6 Broome pro-am was a hit with all competitors, Daniel Fox among many to sing its praises.

“We love playing this event, it’s something different, really relaxed and a great way to interact with the sponsors of the event. I love the one mark only rule; this really speeds up the play,” said Fox.

Andrew Crabb and Billy Minns were the two professionals who won through the first three rounds to go head-to-head in the final with their amateur partners.

Minns and partner, Paul Hope, got out to an early lead to be 2-up with two holes to play before the momentum swung the other way.

Crabb and Jeremy McCardle won back the final two holes and sent both teams to the 90-metre shoot-out hole to decide the championship.

Crabb and Hope hit their ball through the green leaving professional Minns and amateur McCardle to decide the winner.

McCardle struck a great shot to 20 feet of the hole but Minns stood up and locked in the trophy by hitting it to 5-feet and winning the day.

Players now have a day’s break to enjoy stunning Broome weather until they tee it up in the Broome Furnishings Carpet Paint and Tile Open sponsors day Thursday followed by the two-day tournament played over Friday and Saturday.

The WA Order of Merit title is up for grabs this week with Braden Becker leading Brody Martin by $72, a win by either could secure the OOM and a winner’s cheque to go with it.