Nursing a one-shot advantage heading into Thursday’s final round, Wright held the likes of Adam Migur (69), Damon Stephenson (73) and Joel Mitchell (71) at bay with a near faultless 3-under 70 and 12-under total.

As champion, Wright is now exempt into next week’s Queensland PGA Championship at Nudgee Golf Club where Smith will play the first of four events this summer on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.

Although focused intently on closing out the win at Windaroo Lakes, Wright conceded that pre-round his thoughts turned momentarily to the possibility of sharing the stage with the 2022 Open champion.

“At the start it definitely was,” Wright admitted.

“I just was very grateful to get the job done over the good players that were chasing me today.”

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Seeking to add to his win at the 2023 NSW/ACT PGA Associate Championship, Wright surged to the lead with a superb 7-under 66 in Round 3.

With his nose in front, the second year Associate knew that minimising bogeys would be just as important as plundering more birdies.

Birdies at two of his opening three holes was the ideal start, staying ahead of the field with eight straight pars.

Back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13 further extended his advantage, enough so that his bogey on 14 would be just a minor inconvenience.

The son of long-time Queensland PGA Professional John Wright, Jack said a home state title is the highlight of his time in the Membership Pathway Program to date.

“Winning your home state championship is definitely sweeter,” said Wright.

“Obviously winning New South as your first win and getting that off the board was one of the best feelings ever. But to win your home state is probably one of my biggest goals in the program.”

Final scores