To most people, winning your past three Central West District Golf Association opens – Bathurst, Canowindra and Blayney – and heading off to Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club to take part in the AVJennings Golf NSW Open would classify as a big deal.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
To do all of that at 19 is something special.
But ask Duntryleague golfer James Conran how it feels to have just ticked all of that off his list in just two months and you get an understated response.
“I’ve been playing alright,” he said.
To most “alright” means hitting less than five trees around a course and maybe, just maybe, shooting close to your handicap, but Conran’s “alright” is naturally much more impressive.
But he knows in this weekend’s Hahn Duntryleague Open Amateur Championship, his home tournament and one he’s won before, he’ll need to step up.
I’m pretty confident I’ll do well, but out here anything can happen.
- James Conran, on the Duntryleague course
“I’m pretty confident I’ll do well, but out here anything can happen, you hit it under one tree and it’s just dead,” he said.
He said he would love to take it out for the first time since his maiden win in 2015, but aside from the conditions the field will be packed full of challengers – think the likes of Duntryleague’s Robert Payne and Craig Stojanovic and Mudgee gun Mark Hale.
Payne is the two-time defending champion and has also won at Dubbo and the Country Club this year, to enter in red-hot form.
“It’d be nice (to win), three years ago I won it but since then I just haven’t gone any good,” he said before clarifying that a little bit.
“Not that I haven’t gone any good but someone’s always played better than me.”
However tough the course is, Conran has shown he can cop it after taking out the Blayney Open last weekend. And, of course, he’s no stranger to winning big tournaments in the area.
On top of the three opens he’s won this year already, he’s won the City of Orange Golf Championship, the Country Club Open and Wentworth Open in the past.
“[Last week at Blayney] was one of the toughest days I’ve had on the course since I can remember, you’re not expecting it to be the greatest condition when you get out there,” he said.
The Blayney win also built on the experience he had at the NSW Open earlier this month.
“It was good, I made the cut and was coming 30th after two rounds but didn’t have a great last two days, ended up three under par after four rounds which was 50-50,” he said.
He had a blistering second round where he carded 29 on the back nine, but started with a few wonky shots to fall four over after three holes in the first round.
“I was feeling pretty good, hitting it well on the range and feeling good and I got out on the 10th hole and I just hooked this three wood … it went out of bounds by about a metre-and-a-half and I three putted the next and bogeyed the next but it just happens around there,” he said.
“I was hitting it to the wrong spots around the greens and you can stuff it up but I had that 29 on the second day on the back nine so that definitely helps.
“I thought I was doing better in the first round after that first few holes, I was hitting the ball better but the second round, in the back nine I wasn’t hitting it too great but holed some long putts.”
The Hahn Duntryleague Open Amateur Championship kicks off on Saturday, and continues on Sunday.
DO YOU WANT MORE ORANGE SPORT?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...
Max Stainkamph
Max joined the CWD in September 2017, leaving the big smoke of Melbourne to come to Orange, where he stayed until 2020.
Max joined the CWD in September 2017, leaving the big smoke of Melbourne to come to Orange, where he stayed until 2020.
