“He could have shot 6-under,” said Tim Neill, one of four Matamata-connected players to make the championship 16.
Reedy earned the Scott Plate for the No.1 qualifier with a 141 total — adding even-par 72 in the afternoon to his 69.
He ended seven strokes clear of the field and it was the lowest qualifying score since Edwards shot 139 on his way to winning the title in 2011.
What made it more impressive was that it was tough going in the windy conditions and kudos was given to course superintendent Jimmy Walker and his staff for presenting the immaculate greens at a fair speed.
They were still quick but not overly so for Reedy, who pointed out that he had been playing on similar surfaces at the Park all year.
Fresh from winning the Park senior club championship final last weekend, Reedy, who has been putting a lot of mahi (work) into his game, top qualified at the Open for the second time (2017 was his first).
Chasing his shadow was Patutahi's Hukanui Brown, who grabbed the No.2 slot on 148 (76, 72) — the big man's efforts including nine straight pars in his afternoon front nine.
A shot back, brothers Richard (Matamata) and Andrew Wright (Akarana) filled the No.3 and 4 spots.
Big-hitting Richard (Matamata) eagled the par-5 fifth hole in both rounds — smacking 7 and 6-iron respectively into the green — on his way to 77, 72.
Andrew (Akarana) was a shot behind on 150 (77, 73).
The pair are part of a powerful Matamata posse — the Wright boys learned their golfing trade there — looking to end a local dominance of the Open in recent years.
Matamata's Tim Neill, the beaten finalist last year, was fifth qualifier on 11 (78, 73) while clubmate Paul Wood snatched the 16th and last spot on 158 (77, 81).
In between, there were several local players, former Open winners, a few 60-year-plussers and and the only teenager to make the premier 16.
Defending champion Simon Jeune (PB) was sixth qualifier on 152 (78, 74).
A shot adrift was Reef Pohatu (Patutahi,/PB/Future Geyserland) — the 16-year-old Rotorua Boys' High student shooting 78, 75.
Alongside him was the third Patutahi player to earn a top 16 spot, Dwayne Russell (75, 78), who had 11 birdies over the two rounds but negated that somewhat in the morning round with a quadruple bogey-8 on the fourth.
Home-course player Thomas Donovan qualified ninth on 154 (77, 77), 2012 Open winner and Poverty Bay greenkeeper William Brown was next on 156 (82, 74), as was 1995 Open champion David Solomann (Whitford Park, 80, 76), with 12-year-old son Glenn on his bag.
Two-time winner Andrew Higham (Te Puia Springs/PB, 81, 76) was a shot back, followed by sexagenarians Peter Clayton (PB, 76, 81), Allan White (PB, 79, 79) and Bruce Wilson (Flexiclub, 77, 81), who won the Open in 2013.
Among those to fail to make the top 16 were seven-time Open winner Waka Donnelly (Napier, 80, 83) and 2007 winner Tony Akroyd (Patutahi, 87, 83)
Other performances of note came from 15-year-old Zach Rolls (PB/Gis Park), whose 80, 86 off a 14-handicap produced the best 36-hole net total of the day, with Kim Travers (PB) a shot behind.
Rolls, Travers and veteran Frank Ball (PB), who opened with 77 off the stick, posted the lowest single-round nets of 66.
Matchplay over seven groups of 16 started this morning, with finals tomorrow afternoon.
This year's tournament also features a nearest the pin $1000 challenge to take place on the 18th hole after the finals.
The six qualifiers for that — the winners of the approaches on the par-3s over yesterday's qualifying — were Russell Kane (Rangitikei), Don Griffin (PB), Andy Kupa (Hastings), Matthew Champness (Mt Maunganui), Clayton and Jeune.
There was universal praise for the condition of the course yesterday, one player summing it up in a single word — “glorious”.
