Wall birdied five of his next six holes to make the turn in 3-under and, with no small help from a triple-bogey from Stolz at the par-4 sixth and bogey at seven, lead by two heading into the back nine.
Stolz would ensure a thrilling finish with a birdie at the par-3 16th but Wall would hold on, rounds of 66-69 enough to edge Stolz by one.
“Four or five months ago Andre gave me a great putting tip,” said Wall.
“I’ve been working on it quite hard over the last little bit and – I don’t think he wanted to hear that – but that kind of helped me and got me one shot ahead of him, which was awesome.”
It was a near miss on completing the Rich River double for Stolz who teamed up with David Crawford to win the ‘The Jack Harris & Brian Twite’ Victorian PGA Seniors Foursomes Championship while David McKenzie was a convincing three-stroke winner at the Southern Golf Club Legends Pro-Am.
Quick quotes
“I’ve been playing quite well recently, just haven’t put it all together,” said Wall.
“I’ve now hit 15 greens and 16 greens but started making some putts.
“The greens were perfect. I mean, they had a massive storm last night and to get the course back to playable today was an awesome job.
“When you drive it well, hit it close and make a few, you’re going to score well.”
Leading scores
1 Guy Wall 66-69—135
2 Andre Stolz 64-72—136
3 Matthew Rogers 69-68—137
4 Adam Henwood 69-69—138
T5 David McKenzie 71-68—139
T5 Leon Trenerry 65-74—139
February 20
Eagle-eye McKenzie wins Box Hill
Eagle-eye McKenzie wins Box Hill
Half of his 4-under total came at his opening hole as David McKenzie claimed a one-stroke victory at the Inner East Community Bank Box Hill Golf Club Legends Pro-Am.
Spending more time at him in Victoria as he juggles the Legends Tour with coaching at the Mt Derrimut Golf and Community Club, McKenzie had Lucien Tinkler’s morning 3-under total in his sights from the outset, making eagle at the par-4 first on his way to a 4-under 67 as Tinkler and Brad Burns finished second.
It wasn’t a formality from that point, McKenzie requiring birdies at 16 and 17 to edge ahead of Tinkler and Burns.
“It’s the kind of golf course with some narrow holes and you’ve got to get in the right spots,” said McKenzie.
“I was fortunate to get it in the right spots when I could and then I was really lucky to make a couple of really nice putts on 16 and 17 to jump in front of ‘Burnsy’ and ‘Lucy’.
Quick quotes
“I was lucky enough to play with the club captain and we were standing on the 16th green and I said, ‘The way the greens have been prepared, they’re starting to firm out’,” said McKenzie.
“You can see they’ve started to change colour so it’s a credit to the superintendent to be brave enough to – even though they’re slopey greens – to get them with some speed to not put too much water on them to make sure that they play really tough.
“There were some putts out there that break a long way and are really fast downhill.”
Leading scores
1 David McKenzie 67
T2 Lucien Tinkler 68
T2 Brad Burns 68
T4 Darran Train 69
T4 Paul Griffiths 69
STORIES: TONY WEBECK | PGA LEGENDS TOUR