Former Duntryleague ace James Conran made history at Dubbo Golf Club last weekend, carding back-to-back rounds of 64 to finish 14 under and claim the 2019 Macquarie Cup by a whopping four shots from his nearest rival.
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Conran's 36-hole tally of 128 is the lowest score in the tournament's more-than 70-year history and, remarkably, the 20-year-old actually left a few shots on the pristine Dubbo course, he carded three bogeys along the way.
Conran's now based at Pymble Golf Club and considering Dubbo's a course he's never reached his usual lofty standards at despite playing golf "since I can remember", he said last weekend's win ranks as one of his more special achievements.
"I played here a lot as a kid but I've never had too much success in Dubbo ... I wasn't expecting much ... Now I'm holding a trophy," he smiled.
Second-finisher Michael Wherritt can probably consider himself quite unlucky considering he shot 10-under himself and although Conran's win was ultimately reasonably comfortable, he admitted to battling on the greens a little bit early on.
As he said, he "just wasn't holing any putts".
He was still three under through nine though and he shot a four-under 31 on the back - with five more birdies and a bogey on 15 - to card 64 and hold a three-shot lead over Dayne Gardiner overnight.
In a sign of things to come, he opened his second round with an eagle on the par-five first to shoot out to nine under, before going on card another seven-under round of 64 in a Macquarie Cup performance a number of his rivals described as the best they've seen.
It was a result he hadn't expected which, in a way, has been the key to Conran's success in the past year.
Along with Open wins at Blayney, Bathurst, Canowindra and Duntryleague in 2018 Conran made the cut at the NSW Open and also progressed to the match-play rounds of the NSW and Australian Amateur Championships.
Next month he'll make his NSW debut at the Australian Interstate Teams Matches at Royal Hobart and Tasmania Golf Clubs.
"I might have been putting too much pressure on myself to go out there and play my best every time," Conran said.
"Now ... I'm catching up with my mates and I'm just trying to play and have more fun."
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