TWO emerging Bendigo golf talents will get their opportunity to shine against the professionals this Friday at Neangar Park Golf Club.
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Jarrett Miles and Jarrod Berry will take their place in the field for the $11,000 Evolution Neangar Park Pro Am.
The teenage duo will do battle against a quality field of touring pros, bolstered by the inclusion of Bendigo’s Andrew Martin and Kris Mueck.
Martin will head home on a high after securing his playing card on the lucrative Asian Tour.
The former Australian Amateur champion made certain his place on the tour in Thailand last weekend.
Neangar Park Golf Club manager Nicholas Rix said the annual showcase had again attracted plenty of serious golfing talent.
“Andy Martin has been in some good form lately … he just shot the course record at Albury a couple of weeks ago,” he said.
“We also have Matt Miller (from Canberra) coming back down, who’s a regular.
“He’s just won the New Zealand Masters.
“A few of the older boys are still around … Dave McKenzie is hitting them well, Scott Laycock, Rory Bourke and Dean Lawson, whose always been up and amongst it, so it’s a good quality field.”
Bendigo’s Lucas Herbert, who led the Australian Open last November for close to two days before he finished equal fifth, will be an absentee.
So too will be reigning champion Lindsay Wilson and two-time winner David Bransdon, from Queensland.
Herbert and Bransdon will contest this week’s Singapore Open, which starts at the Sentosa Golf Club on Thursday.
The pro-am is the only professional tournament staged in Bendigo each year.
Professional golfers are paired with amateur players, with the field limited to 50 of each.
Nix said the tournament would be a real thrill for Miles and Berry.
“We’ve got two standout juniors, so we give them a free kick to go around and have a hit with the big boys, which will be a bit of an experience for them,” he said.
“Jarrett Miles is down to about plus-one now and Jarrod Berry has gotten down to about plus four or five, so they are both going really well.
“It’s a good lead up for them into the Victorian Central Masters for them, which we are hosting at Neangar Park next month.”