Hook opened with eight consecutive pars before a bogey on the 9th hole left him at 1-over as he made the turn.

The Newcastle based Trainee started a miraculous run from the 11th hole recording six straight three’s on the card to post a back nine score of 30 and set up a four shot lead.

"I putted great today and an eagle on the 12th hole gave me some momentum," commented Hook.

"The course is playing quite tough with the greens being very firm and fast."

"It helps being a course where you need to shape your shots, it suits my game," he added.

Overnight leader Simon Hawkes posted a 1-over 73 to fall into a tie for second with defending champion Richard Gallichan, William Gunn from Port Macquarie and Victorian Deyen Lawson.

The half way cut resulted in 55 Trainee Professionals making it to the final two rounds and in the hunt for the title and a share in the $45,000 prize purse.

Round three gets underway at 8:00am Thursday morning with a two-tee start.