THEY started at opposite ends of the field but finished tied atop the leader board after the first round of the 2014/15 Race to Bonville National Final.
Dean Slater, a 2-marker at Tasmania's Prospect Vale Golf Club, was out in the second group of the day while Todd Christensen, a 20-marker from Hill View Golf Club in Perth, was in the last group to hit off but both returned impressive scores of 37 points.
The pair were the only two players to break handicap in humid conditions at the spectacular Northern NSW resort, many in the field finding the Bonville layout tricky.
Christensen made his charge late in the round with back to back three pointers on the difficult 16th and 17th holes.
Slater's was a more steady performance which capitalised on three point opportunities on three of the course's par 5's.
Both players were pleased with their respective performances, Christensen particularly happy having made the effort to arrive early and play two practise rounds at the course.
“I had two practise rounds here and really like the course and I was just trying to stay away from the trouble today and it worked,” he said.
“The course staff have done an amazing job with the amount of rain they had leading into the event.
"The course was wet during the practise rounds but you would hardly even know there had been rain by the condition today.”
Slater also praised the course and its ability to recover from being inundated with more than 400mm of rain last week including more than 180mm in a two hour window on Saturday.
“If we had that sort of weather in Tassie we wouldn't be playing, that's for sure,” Slater said.
“They've done an amazing job to get the course in the condition it's in, it's a joy to be out there.”
Both Slater and Christensen, who will be paired together in the final group tomorrow, say they will continue to do the same things as they did today and see what the end result is.
“I'll just play my game and not worry about the score and at the end see where it all finishes up,” says Christensen.
“If you'd offered me 37 points at the start of today I wouldn't have expected to be leading with that score so whatever I'm doing is obviously working.”
Slater agrees saying the course suits his style of play and a conservative game plan will be the order of the day.
“I'm not a particularly long hitter but all the lay-up areas for me are quite wide so I just need to keep plotting my way around and hit the irons solid,” he said.
“I birdied three of the par 5's today and they're a real key for me again tomorrow, I think.”
South Australia's Mark Foley and Western Australia's Bryon Tuckey are a point behind the leading pair followed by Queensland's Donal Bowe in outright fifth on 34 points.
The eight ladies who made the final all struggled, Irene Jackson of Queensland the best on 26 points.
The teams event is close with Queensland on track for a second title leading by 10 points from Western Australia and South Australia a further three points back.
