Harrison Crowe has dug deep and extended his lead to two shots after firing a second-round two under 70 in the Australian Master of the Amateurs Championship at Victoria Golf Club.
In contrast to his ‘boring’ opening four under 68, Crowe’s second round was a bit of a wild ride with seven birdies almost outbalanced by five bogeys.
“It was a bit of a roller-coaster, you could say that again,” Crowe said after his round. “It was pretty cruisy in the conditions, but there’s never an easy period around this golf course.”
Like his opening-round effort, Crowe got off to a bright start with a birdie on his first hole of the day (the 10th). Back-to-back bogeys on the 12 & 13th looked to have slowed his momentum, but he immediately bounced back with birdies on the tough par-three 14th and par-four 15th to resume regular play.
Two more birdies around the turn at the 18th and 1st saw Crowe’s lead get out to an impressive five shots.
Bogeys on the 2nd and 3rd (the 11th and 12th) again brought him back to the field, and when he dropped a third shot on the tough par four 6th, Crowe knew he had some work to do.
“The holes between two and six are punishing, and in the wind, I got found out. It’s so easy to drop shots and get on the bogey train.”
Forced to find something, Crowe bookended his round in style with back-to-back birdies on the 8th and 9th to finish at six-under.
“I really had to dig deep those final two holes. The 8th is kind of easy, but the 9th at over 500m took two of the best shots I hit all day. Driver-Driver and I got it on the front edge.
“it’s left me on a bit of a high to shoot the score I did, especially from where I was on the back nine.”
Chasing Crowe is a trio of talented Victorians headed by Andre Lautee, who carded the day’s best round, a four-under 68, to sit in second place. Two shots further back are the pair of Lukas Michel, the former US MId Amateur Champion, and Konrad Ciupek.
Merewether’s Luke Ferrier, who was just a shot adrift of Crowe overnight, battled in the conditions, carding a three-over 75to drop back into a tie for 7th alongside The Vintage’s Corey Lamb, The United States Kuangyu Chen and local hope Harry Goakes.
Crowe, however, is the man they are all going to have to catch, and the 20-year-old said he was looking forward to the challenge over the final two days.
“Its’ been a while since I’ve been in this sort of position in strokeplay.
“I’ve been playing aggressive, staying positive, so I’m going to enjoy being in contention going into the final two rounds.”