Mark Officer Golf

Golf equipment and training aids manufacturer and distributor Perfectstroke has recently signed an agreement to promote and sell a new and innovative product from Australia called the Focus Band.  The Focus Band attaches to a person’s head with three sensors providing information on brainwave activity which can measure and record the subject’s ability to focus and concentrate as well as their anxiety levels and muscle tension. The subject can learn how to control or improve these areas through a series of exercises and techniques before moving in to actually hitting putts, chip shots and ultimately full shots including using pre shot routines. The Focus Band is a visual and audio bio feedback device and program which displays a number of graphics via a laptop or monitor and provides instant data and feedback. The coach or subject can immediately see or hear what is happening with the brain activity and can then define strategies to improve in certain areas. The team behind the development of the Focus Band is headed by father and son Graham and Henry Boulton from T2 Green based on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. “We have been involved in the development of a number of business and golf related technologies in the past but by far the Focus Band is the most interesting and dynamic product we have seen. It is going to open up a whole new area in mind training for sports that can help unlock the secrets of the champions and elite athletes”. Said Graham Boulton of T2 Green. “We have been using this technology for only a short time but already have seen remarkable improvements from a number of our students at our Swing Lab facility.  Managing Director and owner of Perfectstroke Mark Officer also enthuses about the product. “I have had a number of sessions with the Focus Band and already made some improvement and can see how it relates directly to the way I have performed at sports and in particular golf throughout my career. If you can learn how to get into the right frame of mind and be able to concentrate and focus at the appropriate times performance will surely improve in whatever sport or discipline”. Officer stated. The Focus Band is wireless and can send a signal that can be picked up by a laptop computer up to 10 metres or almost 30 feet away. In a practical sense a player and coach can actually go out on the golf course and measure and analyse data from when a player prepares and hits individual shots. The Focus Band is not only limited to activities and training relating to golf. It also has many possibilities for applications in many other sports including AFL football, soccer, rugby union, rugby league, NFL, tennis, cricket, baseball, snooker and the list goes on.

For further information on the Focus Band you can go to either the Perfectstroke website at www.perfectstroke.org

Or for a live demo via online webinar email graham@swinglab.com.au or henry@swinglab.com.au

American Lucas Glover today won the second tournament of his career the 2009 US Open played at the Bethpage Black course in Farmingdale New York today. He shot a three over par 73 which gave him a 4 under total good enough to win by two from Ricky Barnes, Phil Mickelson and David Duval. At times it looked like it was going to be Mickelson’s tournament or Duval’s but short missed putts late in the round cost both players dearly. So many amazing stories belonged to contenders all around him Monday at Bethpage Black, from Phil Mickelson’s stirring bid to win for his beloved wife as she battles breast cancer, to David Duval coming out of nowhere or what would have been his first win in eight long years.
Glover kept his cap tugged low and played the kind of golf that wins a U.S. Open under any conditions.
He made only one birdie in the rain-delayed final round, and it could not have been timed any better. Glover holed a 6-foot putt on the 16th hole to break one last tie for the lead, then held on with pars to close with a 3-over 73 for a two-shot victory.
“It was a test of patience, that’s for sure,” Glover said. “It was just heart today.”It was sheer heartache for Mickelson. His wife, Amy, is due to have surgery for breast cancer next week. She left cards and text messages asking him to bring home the silver trophy from a U.S. Open that has taunted Lefty for a decade.
Right when it was in his grasp, Mickelson let it slip away again.
He missed a 3-foot par putt on the 15th hole and another par putt from 8 feet on the 17th that ended his dream finish. Mickelson closed with a 70 and wound up in a three-way tie for second with Duval and 54-hole leader Ricky Barnes.
Mickelson left Bethpage Black with the wrong kind of distinction. He set the U.S. Open record with his fifth runner-up finish. “Certainly I’m disappointed,” Mickelson said, “but now that it’s over, I’ve got more important things going on.
“And,” he added, then paused, “oh, well.”
Even more stunning was the revival of Duval. The former No. 1 player in golf came to the U.S. Open as a qualifier who had plunged to No. 882 in the world. Showing remarkable resiliency throughout the week, Duval recovered from another big number — a triple bogey from a plugged lie in a bunker — and surged into a share of the lead with three straight birdies.
Tied for the lead with two holes to play, his 5-foot par putt on the 17th cruelly caught the back of the lip and spun 180 degrees out on the other side. He shot 71 for his best finish on the PGA TOUR since he won the British Open in 2001. Barnes, who set the 36-hole U.S. Open scoring record, never had much of a chance. His swing got him into more trouble than he could handle as he went out in 40, 5-over par, and never quite recovered until it was too late. That left Glover the most unlikely champion.
The 29-year-old from South Carolina, who chews tobacco and listens to Sinatra, had not won since holing out a bunker shot on the final hole at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic nearly five years ago. But this was no fluke.  Once he was handed the lead by Barnes’ collapse, Glover was rock solid on a water-logged course. And when he hit two of his best shots of the final round to the 16th green for his lone birdie, it made for an anticlimactic finish to a U.S. Open that had more delays than drama. Hopefully Lucas Glover will contend and win more tournaments and perhaps majors and players like Duval and Mickelson can also add to their career record in majors. It would be a shame if Mickelson was not able to add a US Open to his resume as he has certainly proved that he has the game for the open course set ups and he has been one of the most dominant players of the past decade.

1	1	Lucas Glover	-4			69	64	70	73	276
T2	3	Phil Mickelson	-2			69	70	69	70	278
T2	1	David Duval	-2			67	70	70	71	278
T2	1	Ricky Barnes	-2			67	65	70	76	278
5	2	Ross Fisher	-1			70	68	69	72	279
T6	9	Tiger Woods	E			74	69	68	69	280
T6	9	Soren Hansen	E			70	71	70	69	280
T6	1	Hunter Mahan	E			72	68	68	72	280
9	16	Henrik Stenson	+1			73	70	70	68	281
T10	22	Rory McIlroy	+2			72	70	72	68	282
T10	15	Matt Bettencourt	+2			75	67	71	69	282
T10	10	Sergio Garcia	+2			70	70	72	70	282
T10	5	Ryan Moore	+2			70	69	72	71	282
T10	2	Stephen Ames	+2			74	66	70	72	282
T10	5	Mike Weir	+2			64	70	74	74	282
T16	9	Anthony Kim	+3			71	71	71	70	283
T16	8	Retief Goosen	+3			73	68	68	74	283

Ricky Barnes is the overnight and second round leader of the 2009 US Open being played at the Bethpage Black course in New York. After a second round five under 65 Barnes leads by one from Lucas Glover and two from first round leader Mike Weir. Sixteen players are yet to tee off in the third round after a deluge hit the course late in the afternoon.  The course became unplayable and even though there was about an hours light left the USGA called the players off the course in very dark conditions with Tiger Woods having played one hole and standing at 3 over par for the tournament. I can’t see Tiger being a factor in the championship from this position because he is too far back and has too many people in front of him. Also he is struggling with his putting and he would need to start making some putts pretty quickly to build some momentum. Of the top ranked players perhaps Englands Lee Westwood is in the best position at two under and six strokes back. He must feel that this is his turn in a major championship after missing out on a playoff in last years event by a shot after being a major factor throughout the last round. Ricky Barnes is the surprise leader as he has not exactly set the PGA Tour on fire so far this year. His two-day total of 132 is the lowest for two opening rounds in U.S. Open history and it leaves him one stroke ahead of Lucas Glover and two up on Mike Weir. Barnes had never broken 70 in 10 previous rounds at the season’s second major.  “Pretty stress free,” was Barnes’ assessment, and the numbers bore him out. He’s been extremely steady this week, hitting all but five greens and 19 of 28 fairways. He’s only made one bogey, too, and that came on the 10th hole in the first round. “It’s pretty cool,” Barnes said. “At the beginning of the week you didn’t think that score was out there. Obviously with some tees moved up and the soft greens helped it out … And obviously my ball striking was the most probably impressive part of the first 36 holes.
“… If you would have told me I would have been 8 under and only one-shot lead, I would have said, “You’re kidding me,” but I’ll take it.  It was solid play.  And I’m happy with in the position.” I like one of these three guys to be the champion tomorrow night if play does get completed – Sean O’Hair, Steve Stricker or Lee Westwood. If it is a marathon day tomorrow then those guys will dodge the media spotlight and hype and will be able to go about the job without being in the last groups in the final round. If the USGA hope to finish tomorrow they will have to keep the same pairings as for the third round because waiting for everyone to finish the third round and then making a new draw will delay proceedings.

1	-	Ricky Barnes	-8		-	67	65	-	-	132
2	-	Lucas Glover	-7		-	69	64	-	-	133
3	-	Mike Weir	-6		-	64	70	-	-	134
T4	-	David Duval	-3		-	67	70	-	-	137
T4	-	Peter Hanson	-3		-	66	71	-	-	137
T4	-	Azuma Yano	-3		-	72	65	-	-	137
T7	-	Lee Westwood	-2		-	72	66	-	-	138
T7	-	Ross Fisher	-2		-	70	68	-	-	138
T7	-	Todd Hamilton	-2		-	67	71	-	-	138
T7	-	Sean O’Hair	-2		-	69	69	-	-	138
T7	-	Nick Taylor(a)	-2		-	73	65	-	-	138
T12	4	Oliver Wilson	-1		-	70	70	-	-	140
T12	4	Hunter Mahan	-1		-	72	68	-	-	140
T12	-	Phil Mickelson	-1		-	69	70	-	-	139
T12	-	Steve Stricker	-1		-	73	66	-	-	139
T12	-	Gary Woodland	-1		-	73	66	-	-	139

Unfortunately after a lot of waiting and a lot of hype the first round of the US Open has been a let down with the first round abandoned at 2.00pm local time. That seems like they gave up on any further play a litle early on the first day when you consider that the USGA are now going to be hard pressed to complete four rounds by Sunday night. The leader at this stage of the event is Jeff Brehaut who is at 1 under after 11 holes and Johan Edfors 1 under after 4. Tiger Woods is at 1 over after 6 having just gone double bogey birdie and now has a birdie putt on the seventh. The course was playing extremely long and you would have to think that the guys out on the course are at a disadvantage having played in some pretty difficult conditions. Having said that if play does resume at the expected time the course will still be playing very long and showers have been forecast for Friday. Mike Davis, Senior Director of Rules and Competitions for the USGA, has stressed time and again this week that Bethpage Black drains incredibly well. “Our meteorologists are telling us that it is very likely that we can get another inch-plus of rain on Saturday,” Davis said. “And we all know how this golf course is right now.  So the question is just how playable the golf course is. But an ideal goal would be to get Round 2 finished by Saturday.  But based on that weather forecast, that’s not looking terribly promising.”
No matter what the weather brings, Davis made one point abundantly clear.
“We will not determine a national champion until we play 72 holes,” he said. “So if that takes us into Monday or Tuesday, whatever. “I think the key thing here at Bethpage is that it’s been the putting greens that have really stopped play,” Davis said. “That’s why we were stopped today.  It was not the 18th fairway.  It was the putting greens that just became unplayable.”
Some tees were moved up for the first round in an effort to be fair to the players who were already dealing with adverse conditions. No. 7, one of the U.S. Open-record three 500-plus-yard par 4s at Bethpage Black, was moved up to the penultimate tee box and played 36 yards shorter than the 525 yards on the scorecard.
No. 9 played 41 yards shorter than usual due to predicted strong south, southeast winds.
Several pin positions were also adjusted because of the standing water on greens.  Tiger Woods is still in a pretty good position having played 6 holes at 1 over and if the course continues to play long all week you would have to think he is in with a good chance of winning his 15th major and fourth US Open.

45-year-old veteran Laura Davies showed the young guns the wisdom of age to take out her second Australian Open Championship at Melbourne’s Metropolitan Course today.The Brit fired off a brilliant 5 under round of 68 to finish 7 under for the tournament, one shot ahead of Spain’s unlucky loser Tania Elosegui, and two ahead of Britain’s Melissa Reid and Koreans, Chang-Hee Lee and Hye Yong Choi. Defending champion Karrie Webb and fellow Australian Katherine Hull, finished a further three shots back on 2 under, to share 6th place. While Davies was a deserving winner it was somewhat a case of Elosegui’s inexperience in the clutch that helped the Brit lift the Patricia Bridges Bowl today.  The Spaniard had played well all day and as she left the 17th green, she thought she was tied in the lead with Davies at 8 under. She didn’t look at the scoreboard. Had she checked she would have noticed Davies had bogeyed the 18th, hich meant the 27-year-old was leading by one with one hole to play.   As the Spaniard stood over her 6m putt for par on the 18th, she thought she had to make it to force a playoff. She charged the putt a metre past the pin. Thinking her return putt for bogey was just for second place, and not for a playoff, her concentration slipped and she missed the one metre slider.  It was only after she left the green that she had realised the error.  “I was kind of “Oh I can’t believe that,” a disconsolate Elosegui said.  “I don’t think it is no-one ‘s fault I didn’t look at the leaderboard at the 18th I just thought, I was almost sure that she was going to have a par at the 18th because it is not really a bogey hole.” Davies, a winner of 74 titles worldwide was surprised the Spaniard did not check the scoreboard.  “I never understand the leader board thing and not looking,” she said. “You have to know where you stand.” Elosegui’s heartache aside, no one would begrudge the popular honorary ALPG member today’s win. At the halfway mark of the tournament, she was way back in a tie for 41st.  “I must admit I thought I was out of it,” she said. “To sit here as a winner is absolutely fabulous. It certainly was not expected on Saturday morning. There was no way I expected to be here.”   Davies headed in to today’s final round three shots off the leaders. She set up her win with a great birdie on the 386m par 4 10th and a brilliant 40-foot eagle putt on 15.  “The best shot of the day was at 10. Everyone was bogeying that hole,” she said. “I hit a two iron and a four iron in to about six feet and made it.  “That’s what makes this such a good win because it is such a good course.”Defending champion Karrie Webb blew her chances today with a doubly bogey on the par 3 7th and then a bogey two holes later on the par 4 9th. Webb turned in 3 over _ her marvellous 7 under round on day one but a distant memory.  Incredibly Webb went 24 holes before she finally secured a birdie on the par 5 14th. Another birdie on the 16th got Webb back to 2 under for the tournament, but it was too little too late for the four-time champion.  Starting the day at 5 under, overnight leader, Korean Chang-Hee Lee had a horror double bogey start but steadied the ship and managed to turn at even par to remain at 5 under. However, a bogey on the par three 13th ended her title hopes and she finished the day even par and in overall T 3rd. Katherine Hull finished strongly today, posting a 3 under 70 to finish equal 6th with Webb on two under 290. Last week’s Masters champion has had an outstanding ALPG season, finishing top 10 in all four tournaments. It sets her up perfectly for a real chance at achieving her stated aim of making both the top 10 money list and top 10 world rankings by year’s end. “They are pretty big challenges but I have a good team of people around me and I am not accepting mediocrity anymore so we’ll give it a try,” she said. Although Dana Lacey didn’t win the silverware she was still celebrating after her round which included the tournament’s only hole in one at the par three 2nd. “I hit my seven iron and I just saw it going at the pin and I didn’t think anything else,” she said. “I thought it’s on the green good enough and then I heard everyone clap and then I was like yes, sweet!”  Her improved performances throughout the local season have the West Australian looking forward to her second year on the Ladies European Tour. “I feel much more confident this year I think I can get some good top fives in there and maybe even a win.” For the winner there will also be a few celebratory drinks. “I think maybe just a couple,” Davies laughed. 

On the US LPGA Tour Angela Stanford managed to come from three behind with eight holes to play to beat teen star Michelle Wie by three in Hawaii.   The pair, who had the event to themselves for much of the final day, was so dominant that there was a further three shots back to the third placed Na Yeon Choi and Angela Park. For Stanford this was her third LPGA Tour victory and continues an amazing run of form in recent months. Late in 2008 she won twice and has now finished inside the top ten in her last seven starts.Wie and Stanford shared the lead into the final round at the Turtle Bay Resort but it would be Wie who was first to move ahead when Stanford bogeyed the 8th. The gap became two when Wie birdied the 9th and was widened even further when Stanford bogeyed the 10th. Three shots ahead with eight holes to play and it appeared Wie was about to win her first LPGA title. The teenager was about to learn however that leading is one thing winning is another. A double bogey at the 11th and the difference was just one and when Stanford took charge with birdies at the 13th, 14th and 15th, she was two ahead.  Another Wie bogey at the 17th put paid to any hopes she may have had of a late recovery but irrespective of the outcome it was an impressive debut by Wie in what is technically and officially her rookie season.  Yani Tseng and Ai Miyazato tied for 5th. The best of the Australians in the event was Sarah Jane Smith who finished 39th, Wendy Doolan was 60th and Lindsey Wright after a fast start to the tournament finished 65th. The LPGA will now move to Asia for two events the first starting on February 25th at the Honda LPGA event in Thailand followed by the HSBC Women’s Champions event in Singapore.

New South Welshman Andre Stolz today completed a tough week of golf in fine style by winning the Victorian PGA Championships at Sanctuary Lakes by shooting a five under par round of 67. He is now also the leader of the Australasian Tour Order of Merit. He won by two shots from Queenslander Stuart Bouvier who matched his round of 67. In a week that produced extreme high temperatures and strong winds the final round was played on a  cool rainy 20 degree day. Returning to competitive golf just nine months ago after a three year hiatus due to a devastating wrist injury, the 38 year old father of four held onto his two shot overnight lead to claim his first title since winning the 2004 Michelin Championship on the US PGA Tour. It’s been an amazing week, the weather threw everything at us, but it feels good to have won a four round event again,” said Stolz who returned to the Australasian Tour at last year’s Cellarbrations NSW PGA Championship in November.
He finished T17 at the 2008 Australian Masters and came back to be one shot off the lead heading into the final round of the Australian Open in December, eventually finishing T6. Coming into this week’s event, he had a T10 finish at last week’s Subaru Open.
Stolz couldn’t really explain the dramatic re-surgence in his form, but put it down to history.
“I don’t know, normally when I play well, I play really well and when I play bad I’m horrendous, so things haven’t really changed. I either win or miss the cut a lot of the time. I can’t explain it. It used to annoy me but now I just go with it.”
Runner up, Queenslander Stuart Bouvier, who was tied for second place overnight, quickly recovered from a bogey at the second to record a five under final round and claim outright second place.
Also tied second overnight, Victorian Cameron Percy shot a final round four under and finished tied third alongside Adam Bland whose six under 66 saw him move up six places on the final day.
The rounds of the day went to Victorian’s Alistair Presnell and Scott Laycock. Presnell recovered from a disastrous third round 77 to shoot seven under 65 and move from T16th place to finish in a tie for fifth alongside Subaru Victorian Open runner up Laycock who was also T16th overnight.
The top ten was rounded out by Queenslander Andrew Bonhomme who finished seventh on 12 under, with New Zealander Gareth Paddison and Brad Kennedy tied eighth on 11 under and Victorian amateur Bryden MacPherson capping off a spectacular finish in just his second professional event to finish tenth on ten under par.
First round tournament record breaker Luke Hickmott finished just outside the top 10 on nine under. He was T11 with Paul Sheehan and Stephen Dartnell.
The Australasian Tour heads to Perth on February 16th for the Johnnie Walker Classic at The Vines, before heading back to Victoria for the Moonah Classic beginning the week of February 23. The Tour then heads across the Tasman to New Zealand for the HSBC NZ PGA Championship at the Clearwater Resort at Christchurch beginning March 2 and then to Queenstown for the Michael Hill NZ Open at The Hills GC from March 9.

1 271 -17 Andre Stolz (AUS) NSW 68 67 69 67 16,500.00

2 273 -15 Stuart Bouvier (AUS) Qld 66 67 73 67 10,450.00

3= 274 -14 Adam Bland (AUS) SA 69 70 69 66 6,600.00

Cameron Percy (AUS) Vic 71 68 67 68

5= 275 -13 Alistair Presnell (AUS) Vic 69 64 77 65 4,180.00

Scott Laycock (AUS) Vic 65 70 75 65

7 276 -12 Andrew Bonhomme (AUS) Qld 65 68 74 69 3,465.00

8= 277 -11 Gareth Paddison (NZL) NZL 70 67 71 69 2,887.50

Brad Kennedy (AUS) Qld 69 67 70 71

10 278 -10 Bryden MacPherson (Am) (AUS) Vic 70 68 68 72 Amateur

11= 279 -9 Luke Hickmott (AUS) Vic 61 70 78 70 2,200.00

Paul Sheehan (AUS) NSW 69 68 72 70

Stephen Dartnall (AUS) WA 69 66 72 72

14= 280 -8 Michael Brennan (AUS) NSW 73 67 71 69 1,544.40

Queenslander Katherine Hull today won the 2009 Australian Ladies Masters at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast. She shot an excellent round of four under par 68 and never looked like relinquishing her lead which was 3 at the start of the day. Tamie Durdin and So Yeon Ryu finished tied second at eleven under. After four successive rounds in the 60’s (69,67,68,68) she quipped, “It’s kinda surreal. I dreamed of winning this tournament as a kid. I’m stoked.” The win follows two runner-up finishes over the previous two weeks and it cements her spot as one of the hottest female golfers on the planet in the last six months. The only blemish to Hull’s round came at the last where she hit a fairway wood second from the right hand fairway trap over the green and then took three more to get down. The Tewantin-Noosa product played very solid golf and showed she has come a long way in the past twelve months and looks like she will continue to improve. Hull, who is currently ranked 26th in the world, birdied her opening hole but it wasn’t until mid-way through her round that she gained momentum with a birdie at the 9th followed by back-to-back birdies at the 12th, 13th and 14th to move, at that stage, six strokes ahead of Tamie Durdin. Best round of the day went to Sydney’s Sarah Oh who shot a 6 under 66 to finish at 4 under and a tie for 20^th.

 The final round of the Australian Ladies Masters is to be played today with Australian Katherine Hull leading the field by three after birdying her final two holes yesterday. She leads fellow Queenslander Tamie Durdin after a six birdie 68 yesterday and has placed herself perfectly to win after runner up finishes in the NSW and New Zealand Opens. Hull is confident she has what it takes to win the tournament tomorrow. “I believe I can win but there are 18 holes out there that still need to be played and there are some great names on the leader board. I will go out there tomorrow and stay focused on my game and hopefully it is enough in the end.” After a poor start to her 2008 LPGA campaign, Hull took her game to the next level in the second half of the year with a victory at the Canadian Women’s Open in August and she eventually closed the season with prize money totaling over one million dollars.  Durdin, who is a regular on the JLPGA Tour alongside Nikki Campbell, proved to be the surprise packet of the day after firing seven birdies to move from equal 20th overnight in to outright second on nine under despite bogeying the 17th hole. Durdin will be keen to make amends after leading in to the final round of the ANZ Ladies Masters last year before falling away with a final round 76 to finish in equal 23rd. American Mollie Fankhauser quietly played her way in to contention today with a 4 under 68 taking her in to outright 3rd at -8 and just four off the lead. After turning pro in 2004, the 29-year-old Fankhauser enjoyed limited success on the Futures Tour before graduating to the LPGA Tour in 2007, where here best finish came at the Longs Drugs Challenge in October of 2008 with a T11. With seven players within six shots of the lead, a tournament win is not out the question for those trailing Hull, however the determined 26-year-old will not want to let a third tournament in a row slip from her grasp. Hull is perhaps the biggest improver in women’s golf in the past two years and a win in this tournament will give her further confidence that she can continue her climb up the women’s rankings. She is currently ranked 26 and a win at Royal Pines would move her into the top 20.

Position	Score	Player		R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	-12	Katherine Hull		69	67	68	-	204
2	-9	Tamie Durdin		70	71	66	-	207
3	-8	Mollie Fankhauser		70	70	68	-	208
T4	-6	So-yeon Ryu		71	68	71	-	210
T4	-6	Becky Brewerton		67	73	70	-	210

 

Tee-ing off on the 15th

 

 

The final round of the Victorian PGA played at Sanctuary Lakes concludes today with Andre Stolz of New South Wales ahead by two. He leads Stuart Bouvier, Brad Kennedy, Cameron Percy and amateur Bryden McPherson after a tough third round where temperatures reached 46 degrees and winds up to 50 kilometres an hour. “That was brutal,” said 37 year old Stolz. “On a day like today I would have preferred to have some time off I think. That was one of the toughest days I have ever played in before.”
“I don’t think I have ever played in a wind that has effected my putting like that, I had a twenty footer up into the wind and I actually had to smash it. I have never had to do that before so it shows you how strong it was.”
“It was just one of those days where it was just all about making par.”
In a testament to the quality of players on the Australasian Tour, 40 of the 51 players remain under par.
The revelation of the day was the only amateur left in the field, Bryden MacPherson. The 18 year old from Peninsula Golf Club performed superbly in the trying conditions, playing in just his second professional event after making his debut at last week’s Subaru Victorian Open. His mixed round of four under par consisted of four birdies, two bogeys, two eagles and a double bogey.
He birdied three of his first four holes before a double bogey at the 6th. He immediately followed with an eagle at the par five eighth and a birdie at the 9th.
‘It was pretty hard although I was lucky, I got to play the first five holes with no wind at all so I could get off to a good start,” said MacPherson.
‘I’m extremely happy. To be an amateur playing in my second pro event, to be in the top five after three rounds I’m ecstatic. It’s awesome!’
The round of the day came from 2005 Victorian Open Champion Cameron Percy. Percy shot a bogey free five under 67 to move from 29th place into a tie for second.
“I’m happy with the way I played, not so happy with the score but I can’t complain,” said the 35 year old father of one, who teed off earlier in the day.
“We got to play four or five holes in no wind and then it just went crazy. A couple of shots I hit were just lucky.” Victorian David McKenzie (69), WA’s Stephen Dartnall (72) and Queenslander Andrew Bonhomme (74) are a further shot back on nine under and tied sixth, with South Australians Heath Reed (69) and Adam Bland (69), Queenslander Adam Crawford (69) and New Zealand’s Gareth Paddison (71) are tied ninth on five under. Overnight leader Luke Hickmott had a horror day in the conditions, almost the opposite to his record breaking first round. Hickmott shot a six over 78 to drop back to six under for the tournament and into a tie for 13th place, whilst playing partner Alistair Presnell faired little better losing his share of second place with a five over 77 and is tied in 13th place. Tomorrow’s final round of the Cellarbrations Victorian PGA Championship will begin at 9:30am with temperatures expected to be at least 24 degrees lower than today. A maximum temperature of 23 is expected.

I would think that anyone within 5 shots of the lead could have an impact on the final result with low scores the norm around this course if conditions are good. So Andre Stolz will still have to play very well today and may need to shoot something like a 68 to stave off the challengers.

The first round of the Australian Ladies Masters at Royal Pines is currently underway and three players are sharing the lead at 5 under after rounds of 67. In hot and humid conditions which is typical for this time of year and this tournament Il- Hee Lee, Maryanne Skarpnord and Becky Brewerton are leading. The leading Australian players are Rebecca Flood at three under and Frances Bondad, Karrie Webb, Tamie Durdin and Sarah Oh on two under. After last year’s first round washout, the weather is perfect on the Gold Coast for the 20th anniversary ANZ Ladies Masters at the RACV Royal Pines Resort layout. In what is arguably the strongest field ever assemble for this event, five former major winners line up to take the crown won last year by England’s Lisa Hall. Australia’s Karrie Webb (7), England’s Laura Davies (4), American Brandie Burton (2) and current holders of majors Ji-Yai Shin (British) and Yani Tseng (McDonald’s) will all have eyes on the early season prize. other challengers will include last week’s winner, Gwladys Nocera; runner-up twice over the last two weeks, Katherine Hull and Sydney’s Sarah Oh who has led going into the last round during the past two weeks.

At the Victorian PGA Championship being played at Sanctuary Lakes Luke Hickmott has shot a sensational round of 11 under 61 to take the early lead. Ryan Haywood from Victoria has shot an eight under 64 with with Scott Laycock and Andrew Bonhomme shooting 65’s. A very strong field is taking part in this event with many former winners playing as well as a number of players that have cards on overseas tours. The cut for this event looks like it will be well under par with good conditions for scoring continuing over the next few days.