Few courses in Australia place a greater premium on precision control like Kooindah Waters Golf Club on the New South Wales Central Coast, and it played straight into the hands of the two-time Australian Open and Australian PGA champion.

Still smarting from a tough day at Magenta Shores a few days earlier, Lonard opened with two bogeys in his opening three holes but made four birdies in the following five holes on his way to a round of 1-under 71.

He was the only player to break par, finishing three strokes clear of Leigh McKechnie (74) as Jason Wood (75) and Leon Trenerry (75) shared third.

“I probably wasn’t overly long, but I was reasonably straight,” Lonard saif of his strengths as a payer in his prime.

“I didn’t really get intimidated by a course where you’ve got to hit it straight.

“The course is good. You can plot it around, hit it in the right spots. I made a few mistakes coming in probably, but the course itself was incredibly difficult to work out where the wind was coming from, because it actually zig-zags you all around the whole day.

“I was happy to get around under par and looking forward to Shelly Beach on Friday.”

It is the 59-year-old’s third win on the Legends Tour this year and comes two weeks out from the Australian Senior Open at City Golf Club in Toowoomba.

Quick quotes

“I was looking for most improved today, so maybe came with a bit better attitude,” said Lonard, who didn’t have a single birdie at Magenta Shores where no player broke par.

“Magenta sent me home packing mentally bankrupt. I’m glad I had five days to recover and it was good to get around today.

“I thought the course played fantastic and in difficult conditions, got to hit it straight. Luckily, I kept it in play and managed to shoot a half-decent score.”

Leading scores
1          Peter Lonard                71
2          Leigh McKechnie          74
T3        Jason Wood                 75
T3        Leon Trenerry               75
T5        Andrew Marsh             76
T5        Douglas Maiden          76
T5        Matthew Millar             76

Next up
2026 Hahn Shelly Beach Legends Pro-Am at Shelly Beach Golf Club, September 18

September 10

The Central Coast’s spectacular coastal canvas was buffeted by heavy winds on Thursday, making a challenging golf course one that dished out more bogeys than birdies that it gave up.

Walters mixed five birdies in with three bogeys and a double-bogey at the exposed par-5 second to stop Matt Millar from going back-to-back in his first two events on the PGA Legends Tour.

“It was brutal,” Walters conceded after claiming his first win of the year.

“It was two, three, four-club wind at times, the greens were very, very hard and fast and they had some of the pins on some nice little slopes.

“It was very difficult. If you hit it above the hole, you’re in a bit of trouble.

“It was a bit of a shock actually to win today, but I’m very grateful to have done so.”

Millar began his round at the long par-4 ninth and was 3-over with five holes to play, picking up birdies at five and eight to fall one shot short.

Quick quotes

“I hit a lot of really good shots,” said Walters.

“I haven’t been playing very well at all over the last year, pretty much, ever since the start of the year.

“I’ve just been hanging in there, trying to work it out, been struggling with some injuries as well.

“The course is in fantastic condition. The greens are in fantastic condition, just a lot faster than what we’re used to.”

Leading scores
1          Euan Walters                71
2          Matthew Millar             72
3          Adam Henwood          74
T4        Ken Druce                    76
T4        Grahame Stinson         76
T4        Scott Barr                     76
T4        Matthew Rogers          76

September 9

A prolific winner on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series and perennial contender on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia throughout his career, Millar wasted no time in securing his first win in senior company.

Having turned 50 on Saturday, Millar made his Legends Tour debut on Wednesday at the Wyong Legends Pro-Am at Wyong Golf Club and shot 5-under 67 to finish joint winner alongside Peter Lonard and Matthew Rogers.

“Been looking forward to coming and playing some golf,” said Millar.

“I haven’t played a lot of golf this past 18 months, so I’ve certainly been looking forward to it.

“To get out and play and play well in today’s conditions and walk away with a win first up, great for me.

“Copping a little bit of banter along the way from a few blokes today, but thrilled to come out and start that way.”

Millar, Lonard and Rogers all finished two strokes clear of a group of three players at 3-under, Leigh McKechnie, David McKenzie and David Crawford.

Quick quotes

“You always get good feelings, I guess, at places that you’ve done well at, and I think I’ve been lucky enough to win here two or three times over the years,” said Millar.

“Always love coming back to these sorts of courses and we’ve had a long history, the PGA with the Wyong Golf Club, and it’s great to come back here and play.

“They always turn the course out in great condition as they have again today.”

Leading scores
T1        Peter Lonard                67
T1        Matthew Millar             67
T1        Matthew Rogers          67
T4        Leigh McKechnie          69
T4        David Crawford            69
T4        David McKenzie           69

September 8

Jeffress nets first win at Toronto

He set a tone by winning Q School in January, and now Aussie legend Steven Jeffress is officially a winner on the PGA Legends Tour.

A two-time winner on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, Jeffress had to hold off two former PGA TOUR winners in Andre Stolz and Nathan Green to win the Toronto Legends Pro-Am at Toronto Country Club.

Starting from the ninth tee, Jeffress bounced out of the blocks with two straight birdies and was 4-under through his first nine holes.

He added birdies at one and three to get to 5-under, making five straight pars to finish to post 5-under 64 and edge Stolz (65) by one shot. Playing on his home track, Green was third at 3-under, making three consecutive pars to close out his round.

“Good to have my first win on the Legends Tour,” said Jeffress.

“I’ve won a lot of times on the open tour but the first Legends Tour win, so it’s great.

“I would say there has been a bit of pressure on me not winning because I felt like I should be winning. Getting the monkey off my back may open me up to performing much better in these.”

Quick quotes

“I putted really well today. I holed a couple of nice 30-foot putts early,” said Jeffress.

“I missed one from about two foot on about my 11th hole, but outside of that, I didn’t miss anything.

“Golf course is amazing compared to what I remember it. It’s got sandstone bridges, greens were running at probably 10 or 11 and smooth as; golf course was amazing.

“I’m looking forward to the big events. I’ve still got a bit of work to do, but with my coach, Ben Campbell at Southport, but we’ll keep working on that and get better.”

Leading scores
1          Steven Jeffress             64
2          Andre Stolz                  65
3          Nathan Green              66
4          Scott Barr                     67
5          Guy Wall                      68

September 7

McKenzie stuns to tie Stolz at Easts Legends

An extraordinary eagle-eagle finish has aided an ailing David McKenzie to earn a share of victory at the Adept IT Solutions Easts Legends Charity Pro-Am at Easts Leisure and Golf in Maitland.

Struggling with illness, McKenzie battled through to make eight pars to start his round before picking up birdies at six and nine.

Conversely, Andre Stolz was 4-under through his first seven holes and seemingly cruising to yet another PGA Legends Tour triumph.

Yet as his health improved, so too did McKenzie’s chances, joining Stolz at 6-under 65 courtesy of matching eagles at both the par-5 14th and par-5 15th to finish off his round.

“I hit it into about four feet on the 14th,” said McKenzie.

“My group thought it was their ball and they were jumping for joy, but it turns out it was mine, which was good.

“Knocked that in and then the next hole hit it in about 15 feet and holed it coming down the hill.

“I was hoping that Andre hadn’t made a birdie coming in and it turned out he didn’t fortunately.”

Following a stint in the US, Stolz was bogey-free in earning his fourth win of the year and will be one of the strong favourites at the upcoming Australian Senior Open at City Golf Club in Toowoomba.

“I felt like I’ve been playing really nice and sort of walking off the course a bit frustrated, not getting much out of my rounds pretty much all year,” said Stolz.

“It was just nice to play good today and had a few good chances there. It would’ve been nice to make a couple more coming home, but it didn’t happen.”

Quick quotes

“I usually walk but I was fortunately in a golf cart today, so it wasn’t too much,” McKenzie said of the impact of his poor health.

“Fortunately I had the Callaway rep that played so he looked after my group a little bit too, so I didn’t have to do too much talking.

“It was just the last couple holes that I came good.”

“I enjoy playing golf and I enjoy controlling the ball well, that’s sort of what drives me,” said Stolz.

“I sort of felt like I played really nice all the time (in the US), but nice isn’t going to cut it.”

Leading scores
T1        Andre Stolz                  65
T1        David McKenzie           65
T3        Rodney Booth              67
T3        Brad Burns                   67
T3        Scott Barr                     67
T3        Terry Price                    67