Travis Smyth medals at NSW Amateur

January 31, 2017 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

Travis Smyth <br>(Golf NSW Photo)

The top 32 players have advanced to the match play portion of the event set to begin on Wednesday

TERREY HILLS, New South Wales (January 31, 2017) -- Travis Smyth didn’t let the intense heat or his unfamiliarity with Killara Golf Club affect his golf as he backed up his first round 8-under effort with an impressive 6-under-par 66 in Tuesday morning's second round of the NSW Amateur Championship. The 21-year-old from Shellharbour set a 36-hole total score of 14-under par which is also his personal best two-round score. Unfortunately for Smyth, he won’t be taking part in the match play rounds due to a prior wedding commitment. “I’m a bit disappointed about not going onto the match play, we all practice and play to try and win, and this is the biggest title in the state, but a close friend of mine is getting married on Thursday, and I committed to that. I wish it were four rounds so I could beat my record,” Smyth said. Smyth was clearly at ease around the North Shore layout today, making five birdies and an eagle, in an impressive display of shotmaking. His only blemish, was a bogey on the par-4 14th. “Everything went well today, just like yesterday,” he smiled. “Michael Quinn invited me here earlier this week, I haven’t played here for a while, I wasn’t too comfortable, but after a practice round with him, I knew exactly what to do, “The greens are a bit slow around here, I was hitting my putts pretty hard, and even then they would only roll a foot or so past,” Smyth said. New Zealand’s Henry Spring carded the round of the day at Killara, a 7-under-par 65 that included two eagles in his front nine. It is also the Whakatane Golf Club representatives lowest ever round. “I holed out for eagle from 128m on the 6th, then eagled No. 9, they really got my round going,” “This is my personal best. My next best was 5-under at the Riversdale Cup. It’s pretty nice to get a personal best,” he smiled. The 18-year old Kiwi will head into the match play round as the top-seed, and after contending at the Avondale Amateur will be ready to go deep in the match play rounds. He also has a couple of junior titles under his belt. “I won the New Zealand U19 Boys, and I’ve also won the NSW Boys title and the Queensland Boys title,” he smiled. Rounding out the top-5 are the English pair of Marco Penge and Scott Gregory, alongside Newcastle 19-year-old Blake Windred. A late change in the weather has dealt a blow to some players who were faced to process to the match play rounds. The top 32 and ties will progress to the matchplay rounds which begin tomorrow. A playoff at 1-over-par was required between seven golfers for the remaining two places in the matchplay field. -Editors Note: Article is by Dave Tease of Golf New South Wales

Results: NSW Men's Amateur

Place	Player	Location	Pts
Win	Scott Gregory	, England	700
Runner-up	Marco Penge	, England	500
Semifinals	Josh Armstrong	, Australia	400
Semifinals	Dong-min Kim	, Korea	400
Quarterfinals	Mark Hyde	, England	300

View full results for NSW Men's Amateur

About the NSW Men's Amateur

The NSW Medal is played over two courses. It is two rounds of 18-holes stroke play and then match play. The field is evenly divided between the two venues for the first day’s play with players changing venues for their second round. The winner of the...