Strong winds played havoc at Kalgoorlie Golf Course today resulting in one of the highest ever cuts for a PGA Tour of Australasia tournament.
Following the conclusion of Round 2 only two players sit below par, with the cut made at 10-over.
Victorian Andrew Kelly fared the best of the 100 strong field, the 25-year-old who turned Professional in 2010 showing up his more experienced rivals to finish at 2-under par at the top of the leaderboard.
However it certainly wasn’t smooth sailing for the halfway leader who carded four birdies and three bogeys on the way to his 2-under round.
Maintaining his overnight position in second is Queenslander Kurt Carlson, who gave up his spot in this week’s OneAsia tournament to focus on performing well at home.
“I’ve been playing on the OneAsia tour for the last couple of years and I got starts in the next two events and decided not to play so I could focus on the Australian events,” he said.
“I’ve got a start next week now (in the ISPS HANDA Perth International) which is good, but my focus is on finishing this week off well.”
Only two weeks ago Carlson recorded his best ever finish on the PGA Tour of Australasia, finishing equal 10th at the South Pacific Golf Open Championship.
“I started seeing a new coach at the start of the year, Richard Woodhouse on the Gold Coast, and ever since then my game has been going from strength to strength.”
“But I found it really tough today, I didn’t hit the ball well. Every birdie putt I had I was missing but I was making a few par putts so that kept me going.”
One player whose putter did perform under the conditions was Victorian Peter Wilson who, despite the conditions, carded a round of 2-under par to put himself into contention for his first Tour title.
“It’s pretty tough out there. I think the conditions are definitely the hardest I’ve played on Tour,” said Wilson who has played the PGA Tour of Australasia for over 10 years.
Wilson’s five birdies and two bogeys saw him fare much better that the majority of the field however, the 10-over cut an unusual sight for Tournament organisers.
“It’s a testament to the course,” said Tournament Director Andrew Langford-Jones.
“We’ve assembled a really talented field this week in Kalgoorlie and this cut just goes to show how tough this course really is.”