The Lakes Adam Coull and New South Wales GC’s Jake Riley have handled the heat best, carding matching seven-under-par scores in the opening round of the NSW Medal.
On a day when the temperature nudged the 30-degree mark at Stonecutters Ridge, Doull, a graduate from the University of Memphis, was flawless, kept his card bogey-free with five birdies and an eagle on his way to the co-lead.
Riley, playing in the afternoon half of the draw at Lynwood, also kept his card spotless, rolling in an impressive seven birdies on his way to a 65.
Just a shot shy of the leaders are Queenslander Wes Hinton and New South Wales Golf Club and 2024 Australian Junior Runner-up Kayun Mudadana.
Concord young guns Blake Phillips and Ti Fox are a further shot back alongside 2023 NSW Medallist Lincoln Morgan, while Brodie Ferguson, Bevan Trapp and Isaac Molloy round out the top 10 at four under.
Related Links:
2025 Men’s NSW Medal
2025 Women’s Strokeplay
2025 Men’s Champion of Club Champions
In a sign of how hot the scoring was on the opening day at both courses, an incredible 48 players sit at better than even par.
Coull and Riley are the two with their noses in front, and both will be keen to ensure today’s fast start doesn’t go to waste.
Coull made birdies on the 3rd, 4th, and 6th to turn at three under. Coull got to four under with a handy three on the short par-four 14th. He consolidated it on the next with a timely eagle before adding a final birdie on the long par four 18th to sign for his 64.
“I hit a four iron to about 20 foot on the 15th to set up eagle.”
The 24-year-old was delighted with his day’s effort post-round, saying his goal was to be perfect from tee to green.
“My goal was to go out and hit 18 greens, and I did hit 18 greens, so that helped.
“The holes where I hit it close, I capitalised and made the putts, and just two-putted everything else, which was handy.”
Coull thought there was a low score to be had, especially the receptive Stonecutters Greens, but he admitted he didn’t know his mark would be the day’s best.
“I knew you could go low; the greens were pretty soft. They weren’t quick either, which meant you could be aggressive. The first six holes in were pretty friendly and I just fired away.”
Riley, playing in the latter half of the draw at Lynwood, was just as pleased with his opening-round 65.
The Novocastrian opened with birdies on the 2nd, 5th and 8th to be three under par through nine holes. Two more at the 11th and 13th got him to five under.
Birdies on 17 and 18 put the icing on the cake of a very impressive round for the 19-year-old.
“I’m very happy,” Riley said post-round. “The last two weeks haven’t gone as planned. My game has been there, but I haven’t been able to put a score together.”
“Today was nice, it felt pretty easy out there.”
Riley said he was looking forward to the expansive fairways at Stonecutters Ridge in tomorrow’s second round.
“My driver has been a bit iffy lately, so the wide fairways will make it more comfortable. But if I hit it straight, I’ll get a lot of chances.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve been at the top of a leaderboard. The last few weeks, I felt my game was there; I just haven’t put it together.
“It was nice to finally shoot the round I knew I had in me, so I’m looking forward to the rest of the week.”
