Muriwai Golf Club turned on the blustery conditions today with wind gusts of up to 60 kilometres per hour battering the coastline and leaving many players just trying to hold on to their overnight scores.
For Jordan Loof and Nick Loach they took the wind head-on and both secured rounds of the day with 3-under 69’s to help Loof snatch a share of the lead of the Autex Muriwai Open heading into the final day.
He joins Ryan Chisnall at 9-under after moving day, which saw plenty of movement from players traversing both up and down the leaderboard.
Loof made five birdies in his round of 69 and said although his scorecard showed three-under and the end of the day, it felt a lot lower than that.
“Three-under felt like 10-under under out there,” he laughed.
“I think everyone was hanging on by the skin of their teeth today. I managed to get it to four-under after 10 holes and after that I was just grinding out pars on a lot of holes.”
Loof said making the most of the opportunities that come your way is key in these windy conditions.
“I’ve been hitting a lot of greens and my short game feels really sharp at the moment,” he said.
“If I can keep this up come tomorrow it will be interesting to see how I handle it. I can’t wait.”
The Akarana professional is yet to get a win under his belt in the professional ranks and is something he hopes changes come tomorrow afternoon.
“The nerves held up okay today. The first few holes the blood is always pumping, and the hands are a little shaky, but I got into a groove out there,” Loof explained.
“I haven’t won anything since club champs back in 2013.
“It’d be awesome to win. I didn’t think I would have a shot at winning one of these for quite a while so it’s nice to be in the mix.
“Obviously, it’s a new experience being in contention come Sunday but I’m sure it will be a real thrill. I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”
Overnight Leader Holds On
Overnight leader Chisnall got off to a slow start being two-over par through the opening nine holes of the day to lose his lead.
He rallied on the back nine and took advantage of the par 5’s with birdies on the 12th and 14th holes to make up the shots dropped on the front.
He said calling on previous experiences in brutal Muriwai conditions was key out there today.
“All in all, I’m very happy with even-par out there today. If you had told me at the beginning of the round I was going to shoot even-par in those conditions I probably would have taken it.
“I’m still in contention and I’ll have a good battle with Jordy out there tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it,” Chisnall said.
New National Academy member and North Harbor amateur James Hydes is three shots back in third place.
Other best of the day Nick Loach moved up 15 spots with his 3-under today and is only 6-shots behind the leaders tied for 6th place on 3-under.
Play gets underway at 8.30 tomorrow morning.
Scores after round 3
207 Jordan Loof (PGA New Zealand) 70 68 69, Ryan Chisnall (PGA New Zealand) 68 67 72
210 James Hydes (Gulf Harbour Country Club) 70 68 72
211 Josh Geary (PGA New Zealand) 70 68 73
212 Michael Hendry (PGA New Zealand) 69 70 73
213 Nick Loach (PGA New Zealand) 72 72 69, Matt McLean (Harewood) 69 70 74
215 Momoka Kobori (Rangiora) 70 74 71, Kazuma Kobori (Rangiora) 72 71 72, Hanee Song (New Zealand) 71 70 74
216 Gareth Paddison (PGA New Zealand) 69 71 76
217 Lachie McDonald (Marton) 75 71 71, Richard Lee (PGA New Zealand) 68 73 76
218 Mark Brown (PGA New Zealand) 73 71 74, Kieran Muir (Omokoroa) 72 71 75, Shaun Campbell (Omanu) 70 73 75, Cameron Jones (PGA New Zealand) 67 74 77, Daniel Hillier (PGA New Zealand) 71 69 78
219 Darae Chung (Shandon) 70 74 75, Dongwoo Kang (PGA New Zealand) 70 69 80
220 Pieter Zwart (PGA New Zealand) 72 75 73, Tae Koh (Windross Farm Golf Course) 74 72 74, Woonchul Na (PGA New Zealand) 71 71 78
221 Kunaal Singh (New Zealand) 74 73 74, Mark Hutson (PGA New Zealand) 73 74 74, Jared Edwards (Royal Auckland and Grange) 74 73 74, Brenden Stuart (PGA New Zealand) 76 71 74, Vivian Lu (Royal Auckland and Grange) 71 76 74, Jordan Woodall (Cambridge) 73 73 75, Johnny Tynan (Titirangi) 73 73 75, Michael Brodie (Mangawhai) 71 74 76, Joshua Bai (Akarana) 73 72 76
222 Sean Riordan (PGA New Zealand) 72 78 72, Jesper Bengtsson (North Shore) 71 76 75, Tyler Hodge (P, Gulf Harbour Country Club) 72 74 76, Brad Shilton (PGA New Zealand) 71 73 78, Munchin Keh (P) 70 72 80, Dominic Barson (New Plymouth Inc.) 70 71 81, Jaeseung Na (Pakuranga) 69 71 82
223 Mason Lee (PGA New Zealand) 75 75 73, Martin Pettigrew (PGA New Zealand) 75 75 73, Luke Toomey (PGA New Zealand) 73 74 76, Chang Gi Lee (PGA New Zealand) 70 76 77
224 Samuel Jones (Manaia) 74 76 74, Anna An (Muriwai) 73 76 75, Sam An (Titirangi) 76 72 76, Douglas Holloway (PGA New Zealand) 72 74 78
225 Harry Bateman (PGA New Zealand) 76 73 76, Carmen Lim (Windross Farm Golf Course) 70 79 76, Tyler Wood (Palmerston North) 71 77 77, Jessica Huang (Pakuranga) 79 69 77, Sam Marsters (Miramar) 70 76 79
226 James Tauariki (Futures Geyserland) 75 75 76, Kit Bittle (Gulf Harbour Country Club) 77 72 77, Tom Parker (Christchurch) 74 75 77, Jayden Ford (Judgeford) 71 78 77, Jerry (Xiangming) Ren (P, Gulf Harbour Country Club) 74 75 77, Amy Im (Pupuke) 73 75 78, James Fellows-Ford (Hamilton – St Andrews) 75 73 78, Jimmy Zheng (Howick) 74 73 79
227 Caitlin Maurice (Omokoroa) 76 74 77, Mako Thompson (Maraenui) 75 75 77, Peter Fowler (PGA New Zealand) 78 72 77, Matthew Latham (Redwood Park) 77 70 80, Trent Munn (Manawatu) 70 72 85
228 Mitchell Kale (Tauranga) 75 75 78
229 Julianne Alvarez (P) 74 76 79, Thomas Woods (Miramar) 77 72 80
230 Zachary May (Russley) 74 76 80, Karan Nalam (Royal Auckland and Grange) 74 76 80
232 Misong Jang (North Shore) 76 74 82, Wenyung Keh (P) 74 76 82
