TASMANIAN HANCOCK LEADS NEW ZEALAND OPEN
FROM THE PGA OF AUSTRALIA WEBSITE
Tasmanian Craig Hancock has taken the first round lead at the BMW NZ Open hosted by Christchurch in tough conditions at Clearwater Golf Club.
Enjoying the windy conditions Hancock was pleased to finish a top of the leaderboard with a 4-under 68.
“Even par was my goal for today, I would have taken four even-pars or four 1-unders at this tournament. It is a pretty tough golf course so 4-under today is really good,” said Hancock, who was not bothered by the weather conditions.
“It’s fine playing in the wind, you just have to concentrate harder.”
“You probably play a little bit better in the breeze because you are not so relaxed - the first few holes there was no wind and it was just like hit it anywhere.”
The 28-year-old Tasmanian comes into the BMW NZ Open hosted by Christchurch fresh from a tied 14th finish at the Australian Masters.
“I had a bad last round last week, in fact it was a bad last 23 holes so it was nice to bounce back, it gives me a lot of confidence,” said Hancock, who was tied fourth at the halfway mark of the Talisker Master.
With little expectations of himself, Hancock believes that despite his early lead the Kiwis will be hard to beat this week.
“It’s nice to sneak under the radar a bit, but don’t worry about the Kiwis, they will come home strong. There are some very good players in the field this week.”
The leading New Zealander is rookie Pro Ryan Fox who at 2-under the card is tied second with Victorian Kristopher Mueck.
“I am very happy with my start to be honest,” said Fox, who played in the morning field.
“It was very tough out there.”
Things didn’t get any easier for the second half of the field as strong winds gusted up to 50 kilometres per hour in Christchurch.
“It’s tricky, it was very windy, I just tried to hit it low all day,” said Reed, who was the only player in the afternoon to break par and sits tied fourth at 1-under.
“I had a lesson from my brother in law last week about how to hit a low shot, if it weren’t for that I would have hit a 100.”
Joining Reed with an opening round of 71 was Steven Jeffress (QLD), Ewan Porter (NSW), Nick Cullen (SA), Ryan Haller (QLD), Vaughan McCall (am)(NZ), Gareth Paddison (NZ), Matthew Ballard (QLD) and Brad Shilton (NZ)
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Tasmanian Craig Hancock has taken the first round lead at the BMW NZ Open hosted by Christchurch in tough conditions at Clearwater Golf Club.
Enjoying the windy conditions Hancock was pleased to finish a top of the leaderboard with a 4-under 68.
“Even par was my goal for today, I would have taken four even-pars or four 1-unders at this tournament. It is a pretty tough golf course so 4-under today is really good,” said Hancock, who was not bothered by the weather conditions.
“It’s fine playing in the wind, you just have to concentrate harder.”
“You probably play a little bit better in the breeze because you are not so relaxed - the first few holes there was no wind and it was just like hit it anywhere.”
The 28-year-old Tasmanian comes into the BMW NZ Open hosted by Christchurch fresh from a tied 14th finish at the Australian Masters.
“I had a bad last round last week, in fact it was a bad last 23 holes so it was nice to bounce back, it gives me a lot of confidence,” said Hancock, who was tied fourth at the halfway mark of the Talisker Master.
With little expectations of himself, Hancock believes that despite his early lead the Kiwis will be hard to beat this week.
“It’s nice to sneak under the radar a bit, but don’t worry about the Kiwis, they will come home strong. There are some very good players in the field this week.”
The leading New Zealander is rookie Pro Ryan Fox who at 2-under the card is tied second with Victorian Kristopher Mueck.
“I am very happy with my start to be honest,” said Fox, who played in the morning field.
“It was very tough out there.”
Things didn’t get any easier for the second half of the field as strong winds gusted up to 50 kilometres per hour in Christchurch.
“It’s tricky, it was very windy, I just tried to hit it low all day,” said Reed, who was the only player in the afternoon to break par and sits tied fourth at 1-under.
“I had a lesson from my brother in law last week about how to hit a low shot, if it weren’t for that I would have hit a 100.”
Joining Reed with an opening round of 71 was Steven Jeffress (QLD), Ewan Porter (NSW), Nick Cullen (SA), Ryan Haller (QLD), Vaughan McCall (am)(NZ), Gareth Paddison (NZ), Matthew Ballard (QLD) and Brad Shilton (NZ)
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Labels: PRO GOLF
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Thursday, November 22, 2012
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