Unheralded Tasmanian Simon Hawkes leads WA’s Jarryd Felton by a single stroke at the halfway point of the Nexus Advisernet Bowra & O’Dea WA Open at Joondalup Resort & Country Club.
Hawkes (pictured above, right) reeled off six birdies in an impressive five-under-par 67 to move to 10 under for the championship. A birdie at the par-five Quarry 8th hole (his 17th) moved him into the outright lead ahead of Felton, who had set the clubhouse target of -9 earlier in the day.
Thirty-four-old Hawkes entered the event with moderate expectations, but says a relaxed mindset is paying dividends.
“Coming into this tournament I hadn’t really practiced a lot and I’m not working with a golf coach at the moment,” Hawkes said. “What that has allowed me to do is to focus on just picking a target and hitting a golf shot at the target, which has worked really well the last two days.”
One of the early starters on a ferociously hot day at Joondalup Resort & Country Club, Felton (above left) enjoyed a blemish-free round that included an eagle-birdie finish.
“I got off to a really solid start in the wind,” Felton said. “It was pretty breezy early, probably 2-3 clubs there at one point, and then it died down a bit and I took advantage of that with the last two holes, which was a nice way to finish off.”
Hawkes and Felton lead from a trio of players on eight under: Joondalup CC’s Connor McKinney, who bounced back from a poor start to card a round of 71; Kiwi Kerry Mountcastle, who flew up the standings after a best-of-the-day 65; and South Australian Jason Norris.
Overnight leader Josh Greer – another Joondalup product – finished bogey-bogey to drop to T7th at -6, but remains right in the mix with another scorching day forecast for Saturday.
Elsewhere in the upper echelons of the leaderboard, NSW’s Harrison Crowe remains in touch at -6 after a second consecutive 69. While he couldn’t repeat his hole-in-one heroics of yesterday, Crowe gave it his best shot with his approach to the par-three 17th pulling up just three feet short.
All in, 13 WA pros progress to the weekend: Hayden Hopewell, Scott Strange, Brody Martin (all -4); Braden Becker, Adam Brady (both -1); Daniel Fox, Brett Rumford (both E); and Ryan Peake, Oliver Goss and Scott Barr (all +1).
Sixty-nine players made the cut in total, which fell at the +1 mark. View the full leaderboard here.
Owen and Fewkes lead nine amateurs into weekend
Connor Fewkes (left) and Joe Owen lead a pack of nine amateurs into the weekend
Nine amateurs have made it through the weekend rounds, led by WA state captain Connor Fewkes (Goldfields GC) and Lake Karrinyup-based New Zealander Joe Owen at -4.
Owen mixed three birdies with two bogeys in a solid 71, while Fewkes carded a three-under 69 which featured four consecutive birdies from the 11th.
The pair are a stroke ahead of Wanneroo GC’s Ollie Marsh (T28th), while Jordan Doull (Mount Lawley GC) also made the cut after a round of 70 moved him to one under for the championship in T43rd.
The WA quartet will now contest low amateur honours with Quinnton Croker (QLD), Jye Pickin (NSW), Connor McDade (Vic), Jasper Stubbs (Vic) and Billy Dowling (QLD) over the weekend.
The third round of the Nexus Advisernet Bowra & O’Dea WA Open commences on Saturday morning. View the draw here. The first round of the WA Open All Abilities Championship for golfers with physical impairments tees off immediately ahead.
Entry is free for spectators, but for those unable to get there in person play will be televised live on Fox Sports, Kayo and SportNZ between 1.30pm-4.30pm AWST on Saturday afternoon.
