Sydneysiders Daniel Gale and Aaron Townsend have emerged late to share the lead in the $50,000 NSW Open Golf Regional Qualifier at Teven Golf Club.
On a day that had a bit of everything, the pair played in the afternoon flight and carded matching four-under-par 54s.
Five players share third place at minus three: Ben Henkel and Lucas Higgins, who both played in the early half of the draw, while Tim Hart, James Mee and amateur Max Ford fared well during the afternoon to join the chasing group.
In a sign of how even the scoring was, nine more players are tied for eighth at two under, with 29 players on par or better in total.
TEVEN VALLEY – HOW THEY STAND:
However, Gale and Townsend are the pair they will all want to catch.
Townsend was faultless for most of the afternoon, keeping his card mistake-free until his 17th hole (the first), when his only blemish of the day, a bogey, came.
“I played nicely,” Townsend, the 2008 NSW Open Champion, said post-round.
“It’s a weird feeling playing so many par threes in a row, but I hit the ball good enough to make nice birdies.”
“I had a lot of chances and just kept ticking along. I thought I was going to keep a clean sheet but dropped one on the second last hole.”
Gale, for his part, got off to a flyer, getting to three under after just four holes, but a double bogey on the driveable 7th, followed by a bogey on the testing final hole ( the 9th) saw him drop back to even.
“Very happy,” Gale said after signing for his four-under-par effort.
“I got off to good start, but I stumbled a bit late on the front nine.”
The Castle Hill-based gun rallied on the back nine, though, rolling in birdies on the 10th, 12th and 13th to get within a couple of shots of the lead.
A grandstand birdie on the last in the fading afternoon light was enough to get Gale into the clubhouse at minus four and into tomorrow’s final group.
Despite believing the all-par-three back nine was the tougher challenge at Teven, Gale fared better than most.
“I feel like the harder scoring nine is the all-par-three side, but I threw a few darts in there and made some nice birdies.”
“I hit a nice one in there on the last for birdie, so that’s a good way to finish.”
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Just a shot back from the leading duo, Lucas Higgins was the man who provided the highlight of the day, holing out on the tough par-three 18th for an ace, to the delight of the crowd on hand to witness the feat.
“I hit a nice little wedge (from 118 metres) and used the back slope.
“I couldn’t see it, but the the crowd went nuts when it went in, I was just happy it stayed on the green.”
“It’s a tough hole; you could walk away with anything from a one to five or six,” Higgins added.
Ben Henkel will join Higgins, Gale, and Townsend in tomorrow’s final group. The Victorian got off to a quiet start but played his last seven holes in six under.
“I was hanging in there, I played the par-threes first; just tried to hang in there and hit a lot of greens.”
“I finished six under in the last few; it was good.”
“I knew you could hit some good shots and be rewared, but it was all about having patience.”
“I’m slowly trending better each time I play. I’m aiming towards PNG ( next week) and it feels good to be playing some nice golf.”
