Golf: Kiwis cling on as Aussies dominate

Daniel Hillier during day two of the 2016 New Zealand Open at The Hills. Photo / Getty Images

All six New Zealand golfers have made the cut at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship hosted by the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club with Nick Coxon once again finishing as the best Kiwi at four under par.

The 20 year old from Riverside Golf Club finds himself in a tie for seventh and within striking distance at the biggest tournament of his career which if won results in an invitation to the Augusta Masters and to the Open Championship final qualifying.

It wasnt all smooth sailing for Coxon who had a nervous finish which included three tee shots (two provisionals) on the 16th and with the help of the 20 strong Kiwi gallery, they found his first ball to get away with a bogey five.

After this hole it was clear his driver was at sixes and sevens which forced him to play his new 3 iron of the par five 18th and show he was far from in control. He got out of there with a par save and was happy to be in the clubhouse with a respectable number to sign off.

"Yeah its good to get in the hut! It got a bit shaky at the end and I was pretty lucky to make five back on the sixteenth considering I had three tee shots, but all in all its pretty solid," said Coxon.

"The driver was kind of going all over the shop, so I didnt know what I was going to get, but the three iron was pretty trusty so thought I would just whack that down there."

Coxon knows the challenge that lies ahead as we reach moving day in Korea.

"I will have to shoot a couple of good ones to catch Brett I think, but you never know."

Luke Toomey once again showed he has no issues banking birdies, but his bad holes will be haunting him heading into the weekend. The 23 year old is in positive spirits as he looks for go low on moving day at the AAC.

"That leaves me with really no option but to come out and unleash tomorrow which can be a really good thing. I'm really excited and I'll go guns blazing," said Toomey

Toomey finished the day one under par for the tournament and is not alone on that number with two other Kiwis in the form of Daniel Hillier and Nick Voke joining him.

Voke had an extremely colourful score card which included an eagle with bogeys either side of it and a double bogey on the par five 15th. He then showed tremendous fight making back to back birdies on the final two holes to salvage the round.

Wellingtons Daniel Hillier had his regular gallery of Royal Wellington members following his round throughout the morning. Finishing at two under, Hillier made six birdies and four bogeys to prove this course Jack Nicklaus designed course challenges you every hole.

Its hard to look past the large Australian contingent as they dominate the leaderboard with three of the top four players coming from across the ditch.

Brett Coletta leads the field with a ten under par total after two matching rounds of five under (67). He will be going head to head with his higher ranked team mates Cameron Davis (nine under) and 2016 US Amateur Champion Curtis Luck (five under).

Due to strong winds forecast later in the day tomorrow, there has been much discussion on the starting time of round three and the tournament team has decided there will be a two tee start to ensure play is done before dangerous winds hit Incheon Korea.

All in all, to have four Kiwis in the red and inside the top fifteen at this level is a hugely positive start to the tournament. But now is the time when the men are separated from the boys and Masters glory gets ever closer.

Enjoy your moving day.

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Golf NZ