DAY ONE: Big Guns Fire at Murray Downs

How sweet it is when a plan falls into place, and for the fans here at Murray Downs a front row ticket to see the big guns fire.

When Cam Smith decided that he would appear at the Ford NSW Open a few months ago, the 2022 British Open champion said he couldn’t even remember if he had ever played in it before.

He had also never been to Swan Hill, on the Victorian border with NSW along the banks of the famous Murray River, only around 944km from Sydney.

His commitment to playing golf anywhere paid dividends with a stunning opening round at the Murray Downs Golf and Country Club, a seven-birdie, bogey-free masterpiece that left him atop the leaderboard at the end of the opening round.

Just a shot back, his good mate and Ripper GC team-mate Lucas Herbert, who although admittedly a little rusty after the conclusion of the LIV season eight weeks ago, surprised himself with a round comprising of nine birdies and three bogeys (-6), to deliver the opening day promoters can only dream of.

With spectators walking the fairways (there are no ropes) and able to watch the accuracy of Smith’s iron play from just metres away, this event is already delivering a golf experience unlike few others.

“It was a little bit tricky out there early today,” the Queenslander said, referring to the chilly winds which blew a little harder than expected during his tee-off just after 7am this morning.

“The greens were nice this morning (and) being one of the first ones out was pretty nice,” Smith said. 

“There was no real bad bits, everything felt pretty solid. It was nice having (regular caddie) Sam (Pinfold) back on the bag. I had my coach there at Nudgee and he was horrendous (laughs), and it was nice to get some positive thoughts and some actual numbers out of him and get back to some really good stuff.”

Asked for his thoughts on having fans and schoolkids and so close to the action, Smith said it was quite refreshing.

“It’s so cool watching the fans in the fairway, everyone was very polite and got out of the way when they needed to. It’s a different type of viewing for them, which is something they don’t get everyday, which is pretty cool.”

Playing partner Herbert, 28, took up the challenge from Smith shooting nine birdies and three bogeys in his six-under round. “I had it going reasonably well there through 12 or 13 holes, then stumbled a couple coming in which would have nice not to have those,” the boy from Bendigo said.

“I felt rusty coming into the week so to have a walk-off 65 … I’m pretty happy with that.”

Further back is former champion Harrison Crowe, who, also starting from the 10th in front of the Smith/Herbert group, fired a six-birdie back nine to finish at five-under, playing for the first time in seven years in front of his mum.

“It was a slow front nine, it was a bit cold and a little bit breezy at times, but I made a few early (on his back nine) to get me going,” the Sydneysider said.

An eight-footer for bogey on his 9th hole could have been disastrous for his confidence, but after making it he birdied five of the next six holes on his inward nine to storm up the leaderboard. 

The winner of the 2022 Open at Concord finally had his mum following a full 18 rounds for the first time in seven years, with Crowe claiming “she thinks she’s a jinx”.

“So she can come and follow me now,” he laughed.

The morning leaders were never really challenged as the temperature rose but the scoring settled in the afternoon, with a swag of players within striking distance as we move into cut day tomorrow.

At one stage NSW’s Andrew Campbell had a chance to surge past Smith with his opening nine holes yielding an eagle and four birdies to storm to six-under. His back nine ( the front ) was less dramatic with three bogeys and a single birdie to eventually finish at five under and in a tie for 6th.

Rounds of note also came from Christopher Wood who shot a bogey-free round to be at -6 and just one back from fellow Queenslander Cam Smith.

The top 10 settled at five-under the rest were led by Dillon Hart (-4) followed by Victorian James Marchesani and three others at -3.

Top amateur for opening day was Jye Halls (NSW) at -2, with Kayan Madaduna (-1) just a shot back in the hunt for the amateur silverware.