Playing the Maffra layout for the first time, Lonard birdied consecutive par 5s at four and five and then added a third in succession at the par-4 sixth.

He made it a clean sweep of the three-shotters with further birdies at 14 and 18 in his round of 6-under 66.

It was enough to finish two strokes clear of the field, David Tapping, Carl Smedley, David Fearns and Tim Elliott all sharing second at 4-under.

Quick quotes

“Yeah not bad. Never played here before,” said Lonard of his round.

“There were a few little doglegs there and I probably got away with a few and got a bit lucky but I played pretty solidly.

“I’ve played pretty well the past week or so so it was nice to finish it off.”

Leading scores
1          Peter Lonard                66
T2        David Tapping              68
T2        Carl Smedley               68
T2        David Fearns                68
T2        Tim Elliott                     68

One of the best presented regional courses in Victoria was  lauded by every player who teed it up, none more so than the four who finished locked together at 3-under 68 at day’s end.

The resurgent Brad Burns holed a par putt from just inside 30 feet to stay at 3-under, David Crawford let an opportunity slip on his penultimate hole, John Onions holed a pitch shot for eagle at the par-4 fifth and David McKenzie birdied his final hole – the par-5 18th – to also join the winner’s circle.

The quartet finished one clear of another group of four players, Peter Lonard, Terry Pilkadaris, Neale Smith and Paul Griffiths all posting 2-under 69.

Quick quotes

“I got off to a pretty poor start,” said Onions.

“I had a couple of three-putts early on, but just fought back. I holed a pitch shot for eagle which got me to a couple under and then after that, just lots of fairways, lots of greens.

“Course was beautiful.”

“Tthere’s a lot of stuff to make it hard to play, but it’s in great condition,” said McKenzie.

“The greens are fantastic. They firmed up the last few holes, so it’s a tricky little course to play, but a lot of fun at the same time.

“I don’t know how many times I could count playing down here. I always love coming down to Bairnsdale. It’s a great little town.”

“I had a putt on the second last hole, the par 5 going down the hill,” Crawford said of his chance to win outright.

“I had a three-footer, allowed a little bit of break. Thought if I get 4-under going up the last, I thought I got a chance of taking it out outright, but it didn’t happen.

“It was a fantastic golf course and the golf course was set up beautifully.”

“It’s quite strong actually,” Burns said of the Bairnsdale layout. “There’s some strong fours out there, you’ve got to shape the ball around the corners and if you don’t drive it well you’re going to have heaps.

“The greens are great. The hospitality’s fantastic as well.”

Leading scores
T1        Brad Burns                   68
T1        John Onions                68
T1        David McKenzie           68
T1        David Crawford            68
T5        Paul Griffiths                69
T5        Neale Smith                 69
T5        Peter Lonard                69
T5        Terry Pilkadaris             69

Two experienced players on international seniors tours, McKenzie and Long both hailed the quality of the golf course – in particular, the putting surfaces – as they each shot 7-under 65 at Gardiners Run Golf Course.

McKenzie actually played with the course superintendent and credited his win for not doing “anything stupid”.

McKenzie and Long finished three shots clear of Tim Elliott (68) with a four-way tie for fourth between Mark Sheppard, Brad Burns, Brendan Chant and Richard Backwell.

Quick quotes

“It’s been a tough week actually,” said Long.

“The first four rounds, you wouldn’t have thought I was going to do that today.

“It hasn’t felt that far away and then today it just turned around.

“Course is great; it’s improving all the time. Obviously I’m going to say the greens are great – I did hole a lot of putts – but the course is maturing and just getting better and better.”

“I got off to a nice little start with a couple of birdies early,” said McKenzie.

“It wasn’t pretty golf for the most part, but I managed it really well.

“Made all the putts that I needed to and didn’t really do anything stupid.

“It seems like it’s really easy when you just don’t miss anything and don’t do anything stupid.”

Leading scores
T1        Michael Long               65
T1        David McKenzie           65
3          Tim Elliott                     68
T4        Mark Sheppard            69
T4        Brad Burns                   69
T4        Brendan Chant             69
T4        Richard Backwell          69

Lonard and Burns share victory at Mandalay

Brad Burns birdied his final hole as Peter Lonard narrowly missed doing the same as the pair shared victory at the Undercover Roasters Legends Pro-Am at Club Mandalay Golf Course.

Burns and Lonard separated themselves from the rest of the field with rounds of 6-under 66 but couldn’t be split from each other.

One-over after two bogeys early in his round, Burns made eagle at the par-3 17th but needed birdie at the par-5 second to get to 6-under.

Lonard was 7-under on his round when he made bogey at the par-3 seventh and then just missed his birdie try at his final hole, the par-4 eighth, to finish level with Burns.

Grahame Stinson went bogey free in his round of 3-under 68 to snare third, one clear of Euan Walters and Bryan Milligan.

Quick quotes

“The members are fantastic and the greenkeepers do a great job,” said Burns.

“I had seven birdies and an eagle and a couple of three-putts unfortunately.

“That’s the best I’ve played in quite some time, so it’s a pleasure to play here.

“I’ve had the putting woes for the last four or five rounds, but today I actually started actually holing some putts again.”

“I got to seven, which is the par 3, and I just misjudged the wind,” said Lonard of his only bogey of the round.

“I thought the wind was into me and apparently it wasn’t. Then I had to chip it out of the rocks, 20 yards over the back, so I was actually lucky to make bogey.

“I had a chance for birdie on the last from about 10, 15 feet and missed it, but I hit a good putt.

“The course was fantastic. The fairways were really good. I hit a couple of them and the greens were magnificent.”

Leading scores
T1        Brad Burns                   66
T1        Peter Lonard                66
3          Grahame Stinson         68
T4        Bryan Milligan              69
T4        Euan Walters                69

March 5

Fearns finds form at Portsea

Queenslander David Fearns broke a six-year drought in fine fashion with a two-stroke victory at the Higgins Coatings Portsea Legends Pro-Am at Portsea Golf Club.

Not since 2019 at Concord and Pymble had Fearns found himself in the winner’s circle but a hot start provided the foundation to a round of 4-under 67, two clear of Euan Walters (69) and Peter Lonard (69).

Starting his round with pars at 17 and 18, Fearns caught fire with three straight birdies from the par-4 first and then countered a bogey on six with a birdie on eight.

Further birdies at 14 and 15 built enough of a buffer that a closing bogey was little more than a blip.

Quick quotes

“I’m really happy every time we come to Portsea,” said Fearns.

“It’s difficult, so it’s nice to play well at Portsea.

“The fairways were actually pretty fast. There was lots of run out there.

“The greens were beautiful; it was nice.”

Leading scores
1          David Fearns                67
T2        Euan Walters                69
T2        Peter Lonard                69
T4        Terry Pilkadaris             70
T4        Tim Elliott                     70

March 4

Lane back on track at Settlers Run

Nigel Lane shrugged off some indifferent form and a shaky start to take out the Settlers Run Legends Pro-Am at Settlers Run Golf and Country Club.

Starting from the third tee, Lane made a bright start with a birdie at the par-4 fourth but dropped back to 1-over with consecutive bogeys at five and six.

It would be just a temporary setback though as he responded with birdies at seven and nine on his way to a round of 5-under 67 and a two-stroke victory.

On the back of his win at Settlers Run the day prior Scott Barr backed up with a round of 3-under 69 to finish second, one clear of Carl Smedley.

Quick quotes

“That was about two feet away,” Lane said of his shot into 18 to set up birdie.

“That was really nice. From the left side of the fairway, maybe just a little bit in the rough. That was probably actually the shot of the day.

“Struck the ball really nicely today actually, which is a bit different to recently. The last few days I couldn’t hit it hard at all, but today I found something and it went straight at it most of the time.”

Leading scores
1          Nigel Lane                    67
2          Scott Barr                     69
3          Carl Smedley               70
T4        Gavin Coyle                  71
T4        Derrin Morgan             71
T4        John Onions                71
T4        Murray Lott                  71

March 3

Barr triumphs ahead of US campaign

A timely win on home soil will fuel Scott Barr to attack opportunities on offer through the PGA TOUR Champions in the US.

Denied a full 2025 card in heartbreaking circumstances at Q School in December, Barr will tee it up in Monday qualifiers on the back of a one-stroke win at the Southern Golf Club Legends Pro-Am.

A four-time winner on the PGA Legends Tour in 2024, Barr found something in his swing and navigated Southern Golf Club’s immaculate putting surfaces to finish one clear of Grahame Stinson (69) with Simon Pope (70) outright third.

Barr will soon head to the US, aware that trying to play his way into tournaments will come with its challenges.

“It’s a pretty brutal way to do it, so I am aware of that,” said Barr.

“There could be some mental damage going through that so I’m really trying to strategise how I don’t throw all my eggs in one basket.

“I’ll just do it at a pace that I feel confident with.”

Quick quotes

“I got off to a hot start, birdied the first three, so I was in the race from the word go,” said Barr.

“I did a bit of work on the range yesterday and figured something out with my swing, which had been coming for a while.

“I felt in control of the ball most of the day with my hitting; I hit it very well actually. And these greens were saucy. They were fast; super-fast.
“You had to keep your nerve. I holed a couple of mid-range eight-footers but I did blunder a few times, which let the field in down the stretch.

“I was watching the leaderboard coming in, which is a habit that I’m going to start to do. I think I need to do that just to know where you are in the field so you can finish off rounds better.”

Leading scores
1          Scott Barr                     68
2          Grahame Stinson         69
3          Simon Pope                 70
T4        David Diaz                   71
T4        Terry Pilkadaris             71
T4        Mark Boulton               71
T4        David McKenzie           71
T4        Derrin Morgan             71
T4        Stuart Beament            71

His tortured feet almost failed him but Michael Isherwood was able to snare his first Legends Tour win in close to a year at The Valley Legends Pro-Am on the Mornington Peninsula.

The new shoes that Isherwood wore on Tuesday did enough damage to consider not playing at all but the use of a cart enabled the 53-year-old to shoot 5-under 62 for a one-stroke win.

Teeing off from the 14th hole alongside Scott Ford, Isherwood was 4-under through seven holes courtesy of birdies at 15, 16, 18 and two.

Eagle at the par-4 eighth countered bogeys at five and nine, birdies at 10 and 11 enough to build a winning advantage ahead of the in-form Terry Pilkadaris (63) with West Australian Brendan Chant (64) outright third.

Quick quotes

“Being not a very smart individual, I managed to wear a brand new pair of shoes on Tuesday and completely destroyed my heel,” said Isherwood.

“And when you get old man skin, you’ll realise you rip your whole foot off. Unless I got put in a cart today, I don’t think I would’ve even made it around.

“Pretty happy that I managed to grab a win out of it considering I didn’t even think I’d be able to walk around.”

Leading scores
1          Michael Isherwood      62
2          Terry Pilkadaris             63
3          Brendan Chant             64
T4        Mark Boulton               66
T4        Scott Barr                     66
T4        Lucien Tinkler               66
T4        Terry Price                    66

STORIES: TONY WEBECK | PGA AUSTRALIA