Victorians Feiyu Xing and Elbert Kim have both held onto their leads on moving day at the Jack Newton Junior Golf State Age Championships, despite neither finding their best form at Catalina Club.
Xing carded another three-under-par round to move to seven-under overall and extend her lead to nine shots despite battling illness and a putter that refused to cooperate. American Joyce Zhu produced a bogey-free 69, to climb three spots into outright second at plus-two. Concord’s Jordyn Deen holds third at plus-three, with Kew’s Judy Zhu fourth.
Kim’s grip on the boys division held despite a scrappier day at the office, an even-par round enough to maintain his three-shot buffer. Concord’s Haohua Sun was the big mover, rocketing eight places up the board into a share of second at one-under, alongside New Zealand’s Jerry Zuming Tian and Kooyonga’s Malachy Marshall, who leapt an enormous 11 spots.
It was far from smooth sailing for Xing, who admitted to feeling unwell and rattled after an early meltdown.
“I started with a slice into the tree on the right, and that was so bad for me, I was so mad. I’ve been feeling sick too, and at the start I just couldn’t focus, I was so aware of every part of my hands. It felt so bad.”
Her putter did her no favours either, with several near-misses tipping her over the edge.
“I couldn’t make anything from 14 to 17 – two-putt, two-putt, they’d touch the hole and not go in. I actually threw a ball in the water on the fourteenth, I was so mad.”
Despite the frustration, she was proud to get around given how she was feeling.
“In this situation, I’m actually really happy. I’m sick and still playing. I can barely talk, my voice is coming out so small.”
Asked what kept her going, Xing had a simple, if slightly cheeky, answer.
“I want to see my dad clap for me. He only claps if I make birdie, and I only had a few today, so I’d just keep looking at him and he wouldn’t clap.”
With one round to go and a healthy buffer in hand, her mindset for Sunday is all about enjoying herself.
“After my second round, I already started just having fun and playing my golf. My only goal now is to get a clap from my dad,” she laughed.
Kim, meanwhile, leaned on his short game to grind out a solid card at Catalina.
“It wasn’t my best stuff out there today, missed quite a few greens, but I was scrambling really well. Glad to finish the third round with a solid even-par to keep leading into the last one.”
The card may have looked steady, but it came with plenty of scrambling behind the scenes.
“It may look very steady on the card, but there were a lot of up-and-downs from tough spots. I stayed patient and let the birdies come on the back nine, which they did.”
Kim said his all-round game had come together nicely as the week’s progressed.
“I was hitting the ball really well in round one, then started scrambling yesterday and today. My game feels pretty good, like I can do anything at the moment.”
It’s been a while between wins for the Victorian, who’s eyeing a return to the winner’s circle.
“Last time I won was the Webex Play Series Victoria back in late January, so it’s been a while, but it feels good to be back in the lead, going for another win.”
With a buffer to protect tomorrow, Kim isn’t getting ahead of himself.
“I don’t think I’ll really think about maintaining the lead, I just want to keep playing my golf and I’m sure the result will come with it.”
The final round tees off tomorrow, with the leading groups teeing off at Moruya Golf Club.
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