Neangar Park, Axedale in peak condition for two big days of pro golf

Professional golfers from across Australia will converge on Neangar Park on Thursday and Axedale on Friday for the annual Pro-Am events.

The main attractions for both events will be three local pro golfers - Lucas Herbert, Andrew Martin and Kris Mueck.

Traditionally, Axedale has hosted day one and Neangar day two, but the clubs have flipped the order this year.

"We had some harsh weather with the big hail storm early last week, but thankfully we had a week-and-a-half to clean everything up,'' Neangar Park general manager Oscar Morris said.

"We had a massive working bee where a lot of the Neangar members jumped in to help out.

"The course is looking fantastic and we're ready for a big day on Thursday."

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Morris said the club was elated with the quality of the field.

"Last year was our first Pro-Am back after COVID and the field was weaker because some players were still not travelling.

"This year we're back to normality and we have a great field headlined by Lucas (Herbert), Andy (Martin) and Kris (Mueck).

"We're hoping to get a good crowd there to watch the action on Thursday.

"For those who can't make it, we're going to have a live stream of Lucas' group on our Facebook page."

In October, the majority of the Axedale layout was under water because of flooding.

Axedale representative Hayden Nielsen said the club had worked "extremely hard" to get the course back to its best.

"All things considered, the course has come back from the floods really well,'' Nielsen said.

"We're still one pump down, but the course is looking good at the moment.

"It looks like the weather is going to be great which is good news for both clubs.

"To have the three local lads playing in both events is a great sign for Bendigo in general.

"To have Lucas around and willing to play is great for local golf and local sport.

"He's a great supporter of Bendigo golf and local sport.

"Lucas and Andy will play in the same group at Axedale. Hopefully, we get a bit of a crowd following that group.

"It will create a bit of atmosphere."

Nielsen would love to see one of the local players win the Axedale title.

"Andy has won it in the past and Kris has course records at Axedale and always seems to play well here,'' he said.

"Who knows what Lucas could produce. If he's switched on he could shoot anything.

"If one of those three were to win it would be great."

Play on both days starts at 10am. Entry is free for spectators.

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