THEY began the month by sharing the glory of a Golf NSW Country Championship team title together, but this weekend at the Bathurst Golf Club Robert Payne and Mark Hale will be fierce rivals.
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The duo form part of a bumper Bathurst Open field and will carry with them the confidence that comes with being a past champion.
Hale, from Mudgee, is the defending champion. He won last year’s title by two shots on the back of rounds of 71 and 69 and his given his efforts for Central West at the country championships – a fired a five-under on day two – he’s in good touch.
Duntryleague talent Payne will be chasing his eighth Bathurst Open crown and first since 2015.
READ MORE: Hale wins the 2017 Bathurst Open
READ MORE: Hodson claims his fifth Club Championship
READ ALSO: Flitcroft wins Bathurst’s trainee pro-am
Having shed 20 kilograms this year and already found success in the Dubbo Open and City of Orange Championship, Payne is a major threat.
“I feel like I’m playing as well as ever after losing some weight,” Payne said at the start of the month.
“I’ve lost 20-odd kilos this year, I’m hitting the ball further. You know, I was hitting irons in par fives [during the City of Orange Championship] that I was hitting woods into last year.
“I’ve really improved my putting since I’ve dropped that weight … It’s just onward and upward for me now.”
However, that pair will face stiff opposition from the likes of Bathurst Club Champion Reece Hodson and Fidel Concepcion, who has been in good touch for the Southern Utah Thunderbirds on the American Collegiate circuit.
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“It’s a full field, we’ve got 230 players so it’s massive,” Bathurst Golf Club’s general manager Brad Constable said.
“It’s also a qualifier for the New South Wales Open this year as well, so it’s bringing a lot of the guns here.
“There’s a guy from Canberra – Fidel Concepcion – he’s off plus three or nearly plus four handicap.
“The course is looking really, really good. We had the trainee pro-am on Monday and they raved about them, the greens are spectacular.”
Play gets underway from 6.52am on Sunday, while this year’s event will feature the top eight players in a penultimate group and last group for spectators wishing to follow.
