Thompson went into the third day with a five shot lead over defending champion Reece Hodson and another former winner in Paul Bright.

Bright was unable to complete his third round due to injury, leaving Hodson and Todd McIntosh as the only players within 10 shots of the leader at that point.

McIntosh faded from contention after a 13-over round of 84, and while Hodson did manage to pull back a shot thanks to his two-over 73, Thompson was able to limit the damage with a 74.

But there was controversy to follow.

Hodson was disqualified from the event after signing for an incorrect score, one which was lower than what he’d actually shot.

It left organisers and officials with no choice but to disqualify him.

“He put in the wrong score and had to be scratched from the tournament,” club captain Manuel Pro said.

“Paul Bright had an accident at work during the week that has left him in a bit of pain, he tried to play on Saturday, but got through half a dozen holes and was in obvious discomfort, which was unfortunate for him.

“All Dylan has to do now is keep that same consistent form that he has been showing and he should be fine. But golf is a funny game and it doesn’t take much for things to change.

“He is a very sensible young guy though and I have no doubt he’ll be able to hold on.”

Following on from his third round, the current leader, who’s advantage now stands at 13 shots over Brett Howard, Thompson said he could have played better, but was still relatively pleased with his effort.

“It probably wasn’t my best round, it wasn’t too bad, but I felt like there were chances to pick up a better score,” he said.

“I think I might have left maybe three shots out there on the way back to the clubhouse.

“Reece played before I did, but I wasn’t aware of how he had gone at that stage, he’d only just finished when I started so it wasn’t something I was thinking about when I was playing,” he said prior to the announcement of Hodson’s disqualification.

Bright would have been hopeful of being of being a chance in the final round having, started round three five shots adrift of the leader but he will have to be content with a good half-way score and nothing more.

Hodson’s disqualification leaves a massive gap between Thompson and his nearest challenger in Howard who impressed with a 76 on Saturday.

Scott Matheson (75), Brian Walsh (77), Donovan Lamb (78) and Darren Smith (78) were the others to thrive in a tough day for scoring.

In recent years, title winners have carried massive leads into the last round – sometimes in the vicinity of 20 shots, and each time there has been no dramatic change to the standings.

In the lower grades, Aaron McDonald stretched his B grade lead out to five shots after starting the round with a lead of four.

His nearest challenger is Mitch Colling who broke clear of a logjam of players behind McDonald.

In B1, John Curtis was the big mover as his round of 86 got him to within two shots of Alan Sillett, with Tim McKinnon a further shot behind Curtis.