Bendigo golfer Andrew Martin completed the set of central Victorian Pro-Am titles when he won the inaugural Symes Motors BMW Axedale Pro-Am on Thursday.
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Martin won his home event the Neagar Park Pro-Am last year and he was even more impressive in defeating a quality field on Thursday.
Martin fired a six-under par 63 to win by one shot from Ruben Lal. Fellow Bendigo professional Lucas Herbert shot a three-under par 66 and finished tied for third.
“The club did a great job to have the course in great condition for their first Pro-Am,’’ Martin said.
“It’s a credit to everyone at the club for the work put in. It’s great to have these local events and to win topped it off.”
Martin had four birdies and one double bogey in his first six holes.
Three birdies in four holes from the eighth through to the 11th took him to five-under par before he sunk a long birdie putt on the par-three 16th to move to six-under.
A birdie putt on the 17th hole lipped out before he made a solid par on the 18th to sign for a 63.
“I thought I played pretty solidly,’’ Martin said.
“You need to keep the ball on the fairways at Axedale to give yourself the best chance of making birdies and I did that pretty well today.”
Axedale Golf Club product Kris Mueck didn’t play the event as a professional, but he was the talk of the gallery after he signed for a course record 10-under par 59.
Mueck started his round on the par-three third hole and was four-under par through his first five holes.
A birdie on the short par-three 16th took him to nine-under with four holes remaining.
After making par on the 17th and 18th, Mueck needed to birdie the par-three first hole and par-four second hole to break the magical 60 mark.
On the first hole he hit a brilliant tee shot to within four feet and made the birdie putt.
On the second hole he left himself with a birdie putt of more than 20 feet.
Mueck didn’t think the he’d hit a good putt, but it rolled in.
“I’ve shot a 61 here before, but that was a long time ago,’’ Mueck said.
“When I was six-under through nine holes I thought I was a chance even though I had the tougher back nine stretch.
“The putt on the last hole didn’t look like it was going in, but it just trickled in on its last roll and we were all pretty stoked about it.”
Mueck lost his professional status after a 2018 hampered by health problems.
His love for the game hasn’t eroded and he’s keen to get back on tour.
“It will be a long year without any status, but I’ll try to do some pre-qualifying and sneak some status that way,’’ Mueck said.
“I’ll keep plugging away and it will be a month by month thing.
“I love playing the game, so I don’t want to give up.”
The Pro-Am circuit moves to Neangar Park on Friday for the Neangar Park Pro-Am by Evolution Copy Print Solutions.
Martin, Herbert and Mueck headline a strong field.
All players tee off at 10am.
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