Great mates Dave McKenzie and Mat Goggin have plenty on the line in tomorrow’s final round of the NSW Senior Open.
There’s the title, of course, but then there’s the potential wine bill for the oenophiles as they battle in the final round at Thurgoona Country Club Resort.
Of course, it’s far from a two-way battle with McKenzie (-10) a one-stroke leader over Goggin, legendary Peter Lonard and comparative newcomer Leon Trenerry.
Serial winner Mark Boulton is a shot further back in fifth, while the mercurial Dave Bransdon and Euan Walters are within striking distance at -6.
But McKenzie is the man they have to catch.
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McKenzie Storms to Early Lead at NSW Senior Open
The Victorian has now led at the end of three consecutive rounds, spanning back to last year’s final round when he finished with a birdie to storm past Goggin and Lonard to snare the crown.
On Friday this week, he raced from the blocks with a scintillating 65, then today – even without his “A” putting game, McKenzie’s 69 was enough to maintain his one-shot advantage.
“Yesterday I made a lot of nice putts, but today, even though I hit my irons much better, I could barely make a putt anywhere, and here we are,” he said.
“I’d like to think I could get both of them going at the same time, but I’ll definitely need at least one (of those areas firing) tomorrow to have any chance with those guys behind me.”
Tasmanian Goggin, frustrated by his wedge play on day one when he fell six behind McKenzie, had no such issues today.
Goggin – famously tied for the lead with five holes to play in the legendary 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry – started with a bang, chipping in for eagle after hammering his drive over trees and water on the normally difficult dog-leg par-4 third hole.
He then played the back nine in 31, including a hat-trick of birdies to close, and sent an ominous warning to his mate and all around him on the leaderboard with a spectacular 64.
“Yeah, I kept the wedges somewhere in the same postcode as where I was aiming today, and it made a big difference,” Goggin joked.
“There are quite a lot of holes around here you can attack, but I need my wedges to be on to score, and luckily they worked today.”
Before Goggin’s surge, Lonard (69 in round two) and Leon Trenery (66) had each reached double-digits under par, but each made late errors.
Legendary Sydneysider Lonard had played 35 holes without a bogey until an inexplicable three-putt on the last, while Trenery, a South African who lives in Queensland, had eight birdies in his round but gave a couple of bogeys away, including a disappointing six on the reachable par-five fourth.
Recent Legends Tour arrival Nathan Green showed flashes of his brilliant best in his 67 to reach -3, while other fan favourites Paul Gow (71 for -4), Andre Stolz (68 for -2), and Peter Senior (76 for +1) did more than enough to finish inside the +3 cut.
Another highlight of Round 2 was the ace of Greg Smith on the short 12th hole.
Smith hit a 7-iron that perched atop the “backboard” behind the pin on the 146m hole, then trickled slowly back down the hill and into the cup for his 10th career hole-in-one.
NSW Senior Open LIVE
Sunday, 2 November
11:00 pm – 4:00 pm
