Mueck was tied for third after the opening round at three under par, but a four-over 76 in yesterday’s second round dropped him to a share of 30th at Forest Resort Creswick.

Mueck’s second round began well with a birdie on his first hole, the par-five 10th, and he was still one under for the day entering the front nine after a bogey on the 15th and birdie on the 16th.

But from there his round went pear-shaped.

Mueck bogeyed holes one, three, four, five and six as he fell eight shots behind joint leaders Stephen Dartnall and amateur Nathan Holman at seven under.

Newcastle’s Brendan Smith rocketed up the leaderboard, with five birdies in his last six holes to be at six under.

The 23-year-old has scored 138 over 36 holes and is equal second with experienced Victorian Scott Laycock.

Mueck has the chance to fight back today, unlike Neangar Park’s Andrew Martin, who missed the cut by one shot at four over.

Following his three-over 75 on Thursday, Martin could only fire one over yesterday.

Martin teed off on the 10th, which he birdied, but a double-bogey on the 18th saw him turn for home at one over.

A bogey on the third proved costly and with just one birdie in the closing holes Martin couldn’t slip under the cut at three over. 

New Zealand defending champion Gareth Paddison shot a much-improved 66 to be one under par.