Smail, Gates and Dodt share NZ Open lead on 65
By Jeff Adams, NEW ZEALAND PGA TOUR Staff
QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand -- New Zealand's David Smail and late-charging American Robert Gates and Aussie Andrew Dodt hold the first-round lead in the Michael Hill New Zealand Open after firing seven-under-par 65s at The Hills Golf Club, today.
Trailing the leaders by a shot are another American, D J Brigman, and Aussie Andrew Bonhomme.
Off early in the day, local favorite Smail held the lead for much of the day thanks to pin point accuracy off the tee and into the greens in near perfect conditions on New Zealand's South Island.
Smail shared the lead today in fairways hit (86%) and was second in greens-in-regulation (89%), but it was his 27 putts that he was most pleased with. The 39-year-old Smail opened with two birdies and made two more before making the turn.
"After those two birdies (on 10 and 11) I certainly got my confidence back," Smail said. "I'm still not 100 percent happy with the way I hit it today, but I putted superbly. Even the putts I missed were right on the line I wanted to hit them. It's almost a year since I have putted that well."
Smail is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour of Australasia and plays regularly on the Japan Golf Tour where he has an additional three victories. He competed in three of last year's majors, the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship. Smail won the New Zealand Open in 2001 in Auckland.
Gates, a 6ft 6in native of Gainesville, Florida, who was playing in one of the last groups of the day, finished fast with birdies on the 16th, 17th and 18th holes. He started his round with an eagle on the par-5 1st hole. Thursday's round was his first as a member of the Nationwide Tour. At 24, Gates is a 2008 graduate of Texas A&M University. He earned his Nationwide Tour privileges through last fall's US Tour Qualifying Tournament.
"Being my first event I tried to stay calm beforehand and the eagle was a nice way to get going," Gates said. "I was picking the targets and getting the yardage right."
While not related to U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, he is well acquainted with the former Texas A&M president whom he views as a mentor. The younger Gates was a college roommate and teammate of Martin Piller, last year's New Zealand Open runner-up who is also in the field. He indicated he has attempted to pattern his swing after another tall golfer, Ernie Els.
Like Gates, Dodt was playing late and in his first competitive round at The Hills and found it much to his liking. Dodt equaled Gates' birdie run on the final three holes but took him one step better when he hit his iron shot into the par-3 15th to six inches. He capped his day by hitting the flagstick on No. 18, then converting his fourth straight birdie from 10 feet. Thursday's round was Dodt's first competitive one since last month's Australian PGA Championship.
The Aussie played the bulk of his golf in 2009 on the Asian Tour. A finalist in the 2005 New Zealand amateur championship, he felt his mental strength was the key to his day. "I started practicing three weeks ago but have not been hitting the ball all that well, but I sunk some great putts and was mentally strong."
This 156-player event is co-sanctioned by the Nationwide Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia, with the field split evenly between the two tours. Alex Prugh won last year's Open. Prugh finished fifth on Monday in the US PGA Tour's Bob Hope Classic in his second start since earning his US Tour card.
First-Round Notes:
Par 72
65 Robert Gates (USA), Andrew Dodt, David Smail
66 D.J. Brigman (USA), Andrew Bonhomme
67 Darron Stiles (USA), Ryan Haller, Michael Wright, Matthew Griffin, Dave Schultz (USA), Daniel Summerhays (USA), Nick Flanagan, Andrew Buckle
68 Jon Mills (Can), Chris Kirk (USA), Kelly Grunewald (USA), Won Joon Lee, Matt Jager, Adam Crawford, Bronson La'Cassie (USA), Stephen Leaney
69 Phil Tataurangi, Tag Ridings (USA), Jeff Gallagher (USA), Josh Geary, Barrett Jarosch (USA), Justin Hicks (USA), Kevin Kisner (USA), Keegan Bradley (USA), Jarrod Lyle , Michael Curtain, Adam Bland, Jeff Brehaut (USA), Stephen Dartnall, Brian Smock (USA), Trevor Murphy (USA), Jin Park (USA), Clint Rice, Joe Affrunti (USA), Mitchell Brown, Scott Laycock, Tim Wood, Paul Sheehan
70 Kevin Chappell (USA), Terry Pilkadaris, Scott Gardiner, Paul Gow, Peter O'Malley, Jay Delsing (USA), Jamie Lovemark (USA), Jason Gore (USA), Scott Dunlap (USA), Alistair Presnell, Matthew Millar, Kyle Stanley (USA), Brad Kennedy, Steven Bowditch, David McKenzie, Grant Waite, Steve Alker, Bobby MacWhinnie (USA)
71 Martin Piller (USA), Bradley Iles, Mark Hensby, Ted Brown (Can), David Hearn (Can), Heath Reed, Bryan DeCorso (Can), Stephen Allan, Mahal Pearce, Jess Daley (USA), Aaron Watkins (USA), Andrew Martin, Leigh McKechnie, Peter Lonard, Patrick Sheehan (USA), Andrew Tschudin, Doug Batty, Nathan Smith (USA), Manny Villegas (Col), Kim Felton
72 Ed Stedman, Michael Sims (Ber), Scott Stallings (USA), Ken Duke (USA), Richard Lee, Craig Scott, Ryan Armour (USA), Casey Wittenberg (USA), Craig Parry, Gavin Coles, Gary Simpson, Michael Brennan, J.J. Killeen (USA), Bob Heintz (USA), Anthony Summers, Peter Spearman-Burn, Mark Purser, Brendan Steele (USA), Rob Oppenheim (USA), Gary Christian (Eng), Stuart Bouvier, Gary-John Hill, Scott Arnold, Jim Carter (USA), Gareth Paddison, Adam Blyth, Scott Brown (USA), Ashley Hall
73 Jason Norris, Luke List (USA), Michael Hendry, Fabian Gomez (Arg), Ewan Porter, Andrew Svoboda (USA), Tommy Gainey (USA), Marcus Cain, Andrew Stewart (USA)
74 Bob May (USA), Bubba Dickerson (USA), Mark Anderson (USA), Julien Trudeau (Can), Scott Gutschewski (USA), Skip Kendall (USA), David Diaz, Dan Buchner (USA), Steven Conran, Peter Wilson, Jim Herman (USA), Brady Schnell (USA), Henry Epstein, Ryan Hietala (USA), Andre Stolz, John Douma (USA)
75 Tony Carolan, Ty Harris (USA), Kurt Barnes, Peter Senior, James Hahn (USA), Michael Long, Chris Gaunt, Jamie Arnold, Brian Vranesh (USA), Matthew Borchert (USA)
76 Miguel Angel Carballo (Arg), Aaron Townsend, Paul Marantz, Brendon Todd (USA), Stephen Poole (USA), Anthony Brown, Paul Spargo
77 Terry Price
78 Steven Jones, Craig Kanada (USA), Douglas LaBelle (USA)
80 Tom Prowse
By Jeff Adams, NEW ZEALAND PGA TOUR Staff
QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand -- New Zealand's David Smail and late-charging American Robert Gates and Aussie Andrew Dodt hold the first-round lead in the Michael Hill New Zealand Open after firing seven-under-par 65s at The Hills Golf Club, today.
Trailing the leaders by a shot are another American, D J Brigman, and Aussie Andrew Bonhomme.
Off early in the day, local favorite Smail held the lead for much of the day thanks to pin point accuracy off the tee and into the greens in near perfect conditions on New Zealand's South Island.
Smail shared the lead today in fairways hit (86%) and was second in greens-in-regulation (89%), but it was his 27 putts that he was most pleased with. The 39-year-old Smail opened with two birdies and made two more before making the turn.
"After those two birdies (on 10 and 11) I certainly got my confidence back," Smail said. "I'm still not 100 percent happy with the way I hit it today, but I putted superbly. Even the putts I missed were right on the line I wanted to hit them. It's almost a year since I have putted that well."
Smail is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour of Australasia and plays regularly on the Japan Golf Tour where he has an additional three victories. He competed in three of last year's majors, the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship. Smail won the New Zealand Open in 2001 in Auckland.
Gates, a 6ft 6in native of Gainesville, Florida, who was playing in one of the last groups of the day, finished fast with birdies on the 16th, 17th and 18th holes. He started his round with an eagle on the par-5 1st hole. Thursday's round was his first as a member of the Nationwide Tour. At 24, Gates is a 2008 graduate of Texas A&M University. He earned his Nationwide Tour privileges through last fall's US Tour Qualifying Tournament.
"Being my first event I tried to stay calm beforehand and the eagle was a nice way to get going," Gates said. "I was picking the targets and getting the yardage right."
While not related to U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, he is well acquainted with the former Texas A&M president whom he views as a mentor. The younger Gates was a college roommate and teammate of Martin Piller, last year's New Zealand Open runner-up who is also in the field. He indicated he has attempted to pattern his swing after another tall golfer, Ernie Els.
Like Gates, Dodt was playing late and in his first competitive round at The Hills and found it much to his liking. Dodt equaled Gates' birdie run on the final three holes but took him one step better when he hit his iron shot into the par-3 15th to six inches. He capped his day by hitting the flagstick on No. 18, then converting his fourth straight birdie from 10 feet. Thursday's round was Dodt's first competitive one since last month's Australian PGA Championship.
The Aussie played the bulk of his golf in 2009 on the Asian Tour. A finalist in the 2005 New Zealand amateur championship, he felt his mental strength was the key to his day. "I started practicing three weeks ago but have not been hitting the ball all that well, but I sunk some great putts and was mentally strong."
This 156-player event is co-sanctioned by the Nationwide Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia, with the field split evenly between the two tours. Alex Prugh won last year's Open. Prugh finished fifth on Monday in the US PGA Tour's Bob Hope Classic in his second start since earning his US Tour card.
First-Round Notes:
Par 72
65 Robert Gates (USA), Andrew Dodt, David Smail
66 D.J. Brigman (USA), Andrew Bonhomme
67 Darron Stiles (USA), Ryan Haller, Michael Wright, Matthew Griffin, Dave Schultz (USA), Daniel Summerhays (USA), Nick Flanagan, Andrew Buckle
68 Jon Mills (Can), Chris Kirk (USA), Kelly Grunewald (USA), Won Joon Lee, Matt Jager, Adam Crawford, Bronson La'Cassie (USA), Stephen Leaney
69 Phil Tataurangi, Tag Ridings (USA), Jeff Gallagher (USA), Josh Geary, Barrett Jarosch (USA), Justin Hicks (USA), Kevin Kisner (USA), Keegan Bradley (USA), Jarrod Lyle , Michael Curtain, Adam Bland, Jeff Brehaut (USA), Stephen Dartnall, Brian Smock (USA), Trevor Murphy (USA), Jin Park (USA), Clint Rice, Joe Affrunti (USA), Mitchell Brown, Scott Laycock, Tim Wood, Paul Sheehan
70 Kevin Chappell (USA), Terry Pilkadaris, Scott Gardiner, Paul Gow, Peter O'Malley, Jay Delsing (USA), Jamie Lovemark (USA), Jason Gore (USA), Scott Dunlap (USA), Alistair Presnell, Matthew Millar, Kyle Stanley (USA), Brad Kennedy, Steven Bowditch, David McKenzie, Grant Waite, Steve Alker, Bobby MacWhinnie (USA)
71 Martin Piller (USA), Bradley Iles, Mark Hensby, Ted Brown (Can), David Hearn (Can), Heath Reed, Bryan DeCorso (Can), Stephen Allan, Mahal Pearce, Jess Daley (USA), Aaron Watkins (USA), Andrew Martin, Leigh McKechnie, Peter Lonard, Patrick Sheehan (USA), Andrew Tschudin, Doug Batty, Nathan Smith (USA), Manny Villegas (Col), Kim Felton
72 Ed Stedman, Michael Sims (Ber), Scott Stallings (USA), Ken Duke (USA), Richard Lee, Craig Scott, Ryan Armour (USA), Casey Wittenberg (USA), Craig Parry, Gavin Coles, Gary Simpson, Michael Brennan, J.J. Killeen (USA), Bob Heintz (USA), Anthony Summers, Peter Spearman-Burn, Mark Purser, Brendan Steele (USA), Rob Oppenheim (USA), Gary Christian (Eng), Stuart Bouvier, Gary-John Hill, Scott Arnold, Jim Carter (USA), Gareth Paddison, Adam Blyth, Scott Brown (USA), Ashley Hall
73 Jason Norris, Luke List (USA), Michael Hendry, Fabian Gomez (Arg), Ewan Porter, Andrew Svoboda (USA), Tommy Gainey (USA), Marcus Cain, Andrew Stewart (USA)
74 Bob May (USA), Bubba Dickerson (USA), Mark Anderson (USA), Julien Trudeau (Can), Scott Gutschewski (USA), Skip Kendall (USA), David Diaz, Dan Buchner (USA), Steven Conran, Peter Wilson, Jim Herman (USA), Brady Schnell (USA), Henry Epstein, Ryan Hietala (USA), Andre Stolz, John Douma (USA)
75 Tony Carolan, Ty Harris (USA), Kurt Barnes, Peter Senior, James Hahn (USA), Michael Long, Chris Gaunt, Jamie Arnold, Brian Vranesh (USA), Matthew Borchert (USA)
76 Miguel Angel Carballo (Arg), Aaron Townsend, Paul Marantz, Brendon Todd (USA), Stephen Poole (USA), Anthony Brown, Paul Spargo
77 Terry Price
78 Steven Jones, Craig Kanada (USA), Douglas LaBelle (USA)
80 Tom Prowse
Labels: Pro Men
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See story on its own page | Thursday, January 28, 2010
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