The Thurgoona Country Club layout is looking like a clear winner midway through the second round of the Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open.
After a benign opening day which saw 20 players shoot par or better, the gusty southwesterly winds which arrived soon after the first groups teed off gave the course some bite.
Only three players bettered par in the morning bracket, while there some well-known names went tumbling down the leaderboard.
Victorian Lucien Tinkler sits alone in second place behind Brad Burns, who is playing in the afternoon bracket, while his state counterpart John Wade is alone in third.
Peter Lonard is in a tie for fourth alongside Peter Fowler,
Fowler would be rueing an ill timed tee shot on the ninth hole ( his last of the day)which went out of bounds and led to a double bogey.
The round of the morning, however, belongs to Peter Lonard.
His impeccably crafted four under 68 has seen him rocket up the leaderboard and into a tie for fourth place.
Lonard was his usual understated self post-round describing his second round as ‘sort of OK’.
“I didn’t play great early; I just sort of held it together.
” I didn’t leave myself any brutal chips, I didn’t hit any wide, and I managed to get everything up-and-down, and on the back nine I hit a few good shots
“Anything under par out there today is pretty good,” he said.
Lonard was quietly confident of his chances of taking out the championship tomorrow saying his form of late was certainly tracking in the right direction.
“I’m playing all right. I’ve played pretty good all year, so yeah, let’s see.”
Also pleased with his second-round effort was Lucien Tinkler.
The Victorian added a one-under-par 71 to his opening round 67 to hold down second place on his own.
“I’m very happy with it. It was very blowy out there, especially towards the end of the round.
“I made a couple of nice putts and a couple of good saves, just taking one shot at a time.
“Watching the forecast, and it was always going to be tough,” he said.
Tinkler agreed the major battle in conditions as difficult as this morning was simply staying in the moment.
“That is the key, stay in the moment, play each shot, not worry too much if they are good or bad, and just move onto the next shot.”
Having crafted two good rounds with just a few spectators on hand, Tinkler is expecting a far larger gallery in tomorrow’s final round.
“I’ve seen the crowd following the ‘Peter’ group, Senior, Lonard and O’Malley, and there’s been a nice crowed even with the weather, so I’m thinking there should be a nice crowd out watching tomorrow.
“I’m looking forward to a big day. I’ll stay in the moment again and see what happens at the end of it.”