Want to recieve exclusive news, videos, tournament highlights, golf important tips and more ?
Want to recieve exclusive news, videos, tournament highlights, golf important tips and more ?
While Dylan Gardner, Corey Lamb and Ben Henkel have the bragging rights as the 54-hole leaders of the Gippsland Super 6 at 17-under, the third round today at Warragul Country Club was all about making the top 24.
Only the top-24 players make it through the Sunday’s medal match play finals, and so playing into the top half of today’s leaderboard was priority number one. Once that was achieved, making it into the top eight provided the added bonus of automatically advancing to round two of the Sunday matches.
A playoff was required to finalise both, as seven players finished tied 22nd at 8-under, and so back up 18 they went to battle it out for the final three spots in Sunday’s field.
Two-time Gippsland Super 6 champion Tom Power Horan was the first player to strike, pouring in a huge birdie putt to make sure he had a chance to capture a third title tomorrow.
“Yeah, it was good, obviously 60-foot down the slope,” Power Horan said of his final putt. “Not really expecting it to go in, but yeah, the 18th has been good to me a couple of times here, which is really nice.
“It’s a bit strange. I just haven’t been playing that well. I wasn’t really thinking of, well you think of winning but you just want play, but yeah three times would be nice, wouldn’t it?”
James Conran snatched the second spot, with birdie on the second playing of the hole, while Quinn Croker and Jarryd Felton required a third, and fourth playoff hole to determine who got the lucky last spot.
The 100m knockout tee was used on the 18th, and after both players made par the first time around, it was Felton who finally prevailed with par after Croker found the left trap and failed to get up and down.
The playoff for the final spot in the top eight took a mammoth seven holes, with Ryan Peake prevailing after him and Brett Drewitt duelled it out. Ben Eccles and Tim Hart bowed out of the playoff on the first couple of holes.
Having returned from playing the majority of his golf in the US this year, Drewitt fired an 8-under 62 today, and very nearly played himself all the way into the top eight.
After an 8-under 62 of his own, Gardner joined Henkel and Lamb atop the leaderboard, and after birdieing four of the six holes that are in play tomorrow, is feeling confident of going deep in the medal match play.
“Everything about the game was good. A little bit of an extra sleep in, which will be good tomorrow and yeah, see how it goes,” he said.
“Driver is one of my strengths, I tend to hit it pretty straight. That’s probably what I’ll play a lot tomorrow.
“I probably hit my driver straighter than I’ll hit my putter sometimes.”
The first part of the Junior section of the Gippsland Super 6 was also played today, with Angus Hoey topping the day with a 4-under 66. The top eight juniors from today have qualified for their final matches tomorrow which will be played in amongst the professionals.
See the full list of those playing Sunday below:
