Golf: Curse at the 18th for Australian

Kurt Barnes can't get the hang of the 18th hole at the Chisholm Park Golf Club.

The 21-year-old from the Muswellbrook club in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales has had only three bogeys in the first 36 holes of the New Zealand amateur championship, and two have been at the 18th hole at the Dunedin links course.

Still, his total of 133 (65, 68) gave him a three-stroke advantage yesterday over New Zealand No 1 Bradley Iles (Manor Park), who survived a trip out of bounds to shoot a four-under 67.

Another shot back tied for third were two of Barnes' Australian team-mates, Michael Sim and Richard Moir.

Barnes' first hiccup came in Monday's first round when it was the only blot on a card that featured seven birdies. It annoyed him that the bogey on the 400m par-four came from the middle of the fairway.

Barnes said his second-round bogey followed a poor tee shot and that he was more than happy to make bogey.

He also bogeyed the 13th, a testing par three of 194m, but had birdies at five holes.

One of the championship's longest hitters, Barnes, last year's Australian amateur champion, has backed his swing and used his driver on most holes.

"I have been playing well for the last couple of weeks, and I hit my driver everywhere I can."

Iles, beaten in the final of this year's Australian championship, went out of bounds by the barest of the margins at the fourth, while his second tee shot stayed in bounds by a similarly slender distance.

He minimised the damage by making a birdie with his second ball and backed that up with birdies at the seventh, 11th, 12th, 14th, 17th and 18th, with a bogey at the 13th.

Conditions were cool for much of the day, but the absence of the wind and the rain that reduced Sunday's foursomes to 18 holes saw the scoring improve.

Michael Sim (Australia) bettered his first-round total by seven strokes. His 65 including an eagle at the 252m par-four sixth after he drove the green and then holed a long putt.

Matthew Walkington (Waitikiri) improved by nine shots thanks to a 66, which included an eagle when he chipped in at the eighth.

Trevor Bolt (Otago) did not make the 36-hole cut of 148, but he did have the first hole-in-one of the championship, at the 159m ninth.

Those to have missed the cut included foursomes co-winner Glenn Millin (Te Awamutu) and Luke Hickmott, a member of the Australian team.

- NZPA