For 65 holes of the 2023 Sandbelt Invitational, Sydney pro Daniel Gale led or shared the lead in the tournament. He started the final round four strokes clear of his nearest pursuer and was in complete control.
Few figured Royal Melbourne’s East Course would bring the 27-year-old undone, especially after he had already conquered Victoria (66), Peninsula Kingswood South (64) and Yarra Yarra (66) across the first three days of the Geoff Ogilvy-hosted event.
But he here was standing on the 14th tee of the Alex Russell-designed gem, two strokes in arrears of local Matt Griffin, who grew up next to the East Course and could rattle off the yardages of every hole long before he was old enough to hit par-4 greens in regulation. In contrast, Gale was flying blind, having never played the course before. And it almost proved costly.
A bogey on the par-3 4th hole was quickly followed by a double bogey at the short par-4 5th, where Gale later admitted he was brought unstuck by hitting a driver from the tee where “a 5-iron and a wedge” would have been the play.
He steadied the ship with five consecutive pars and still led by one shot on the 11th tee. But the hat trick of bogeys that followed saw Griffin move into the lead by two and Gale looked like he was free-falling out of contention.
“Things were compounding a little bit. I was missing in bad spots and the wind was sort of swirling around, so it wasn’t easy,” Gale said.
“As they say, fight to the finish and I did a very good job of that.”
The reigning NT PGA Champion did exactly that and didn’t take his foot off the accelerator. On the short par-4 15th, Gale ripped a driver through the green and was able to get up-and-down for his birdie, his first of the final round, to move within one shot of leader Griffin.
Then the Golfing Gods smiled on Daniel Gale at the par-3 16th hole.
“The hole was playing about 168 metres, and the wind was kind of down and off the left,” Gale said. “It was a pretty inviting flag, and it certainly suited my eye.
“I hit a nice stock 8-iron, trying to fly it 160 … the ball landed, took a big bounce and sort of trundled up and it finally disappeared … it took ages to disappear.
FINAL LEADERBOARD“It was pretty special. That’s the first hole-in-one I’ve made in a professional event and the first one in an actual comp since my first one when I was 12 years old (on the 9th hole at Sydney’s Ashlar course, which no longer exists).
“But this is pretty cool, and obviously a great place to do it. When it went in, I thought, we’re back baby.”
Moments after Gale’s hole-in-one, Griffin tapped in for a par at the final hole and a round of 67. While he thought he was a chance of claiming the title, he quickly learned of Gale’s shot for the ages to regain the tournament lead.
Gale parred the 17th and was able to save his par by holing a tricky four-foot downhill putt on the final hole for a three-over-par round of 73 to claim the title by one shot from Griffin. Victoria’s Brett Coletta and South Australian Lachlan Barker were a further two shots back in a tie for third at nine under.
After a long year on the road, Gale plans to recharge the batteries over Christmas and New Year ahead of attempting to build on this victory with more wins on the Australasian PGA Tour.
“It’s been a pretty full-on year. I’m not really golfed out but looking forward to the break,” Gale said.
“The Order of Merit is a bit of a focus. The ultimate goal is to win, I’m not really chasing that but if I do what I know I should do the rest will sort itself out.”
In the women’s professional event, Queenslander Robyn Choi had a one-over-par 73 final round to claim the trophy by one stroke from American Heather Lin (74).
It was the second win in as many weeks for Choi, who gained her LPGA Tour playing rights for 2024 at the gruelling six-round Qualifying School last week.
In the women’s amateur event, Bendigo teenager Jazy Roberts completed a wire-to-wire victory on the back of a masterful even par closing round of 72.
Roberts finished at seven under for the tournament, five strokes clear of her nearest female amateur rival, Queensland’s Sarah Hammett, and tied seventh in the overall tournament, just five shots behind Sandbelt Champion, Gale.
The men’s amateur title was won by reigning Queensland PGA Champion Phoenix Campbell (70), who finished on eight under, three strokes ahead of Quinn Croker (69).
Earlier in the final round, Tasmanian teenager Eli Monaghan grabbed a rare piece of Royal Melbourne history when he holed his 7-iron second shot for an albatross two on the 475-metre par-5 7th hole of the East Course.