The first day of the 2020 Nexus Risk WA Open was a fiercely fought round resulting in three amateur and three professional golfers sitting atop the leaderboard. Difficult pin positions and strong winds challenged the field of 80 on the immaculately curated course of Royal Fremantle Golf Club.
Former WA Open champion and Fremantle local Oliver Goss with fellow professionals Brody Martin and Ben Ferguson are tightly matched against prominent WA amateurs Ryan Peake, Haydn Barron and Joshua Greer all placed currently at one under par.
Championship favourites, 2019 runner up Hayden Hopewell finished play on even par, with Brett Rumford and Jarryd Felton at +1 and +3 respectively.
Haydn Barron said, “I played the back nine first which was an advantage today. I managed to make a good birdie back on 18 to get myself square. I saw the leaderboard and thought I could be in the hunt for this!”
“The back nine really was brutal and coming in square I thought I could possibly get a few under on the front 9. I birdied the second hole, but on the third just completely misjudged the wind and left myself with a thirty five metre bunker shot to the pin resulting in a bogey which was a bit of a momentum stopper. There are a fair few new greens out there, making them firm and fast.”
Amateur Joshua Greer played consistently. “The second last hole I putted a thirty foot shot to make birdie – that was the highlight of my day. I need to think closely about my club selection tomorrow but I am really looking forward to another round,” said Greer.
Winner of the 2020 Aglime Sandgreens Championship of Western Australia Ryan Peake showed great stength on long Par 5’s today making birdies on three.
Oliver Goss was delighted to be playing on his home turf with many club members out supporting him on the fairways. “I’m happy with how I played today, the course is looking spectacular,” said Goss.
Ben Ferguson, who would normally be tackling the European fairways at this time of year, held par on his last four holes..
Action will continue tomorrow at Royal Fremantle Golf Club beginning with All Abilities Challenge teeing off at 11am.
