{"id":946287,"date":"2026-10-30T10:58:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T10:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/946287\/"},"modified":"2026-10-30T10:58:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T10:58:15","slug":"aussie-golfer-makes-move-at-asia-pacific-amateur-australian-golf-digest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/946287\/","title":{"rendered":"Aussie golfer makes move at Asia-Pacific Amateur \u2013 Australian Golf Digest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s Harrison Gomez says he\u2019s in with a sniff after weathering wicked winds which battered golfers at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.<\/p>\n

Gomez, at even par, is seven shots shy of the leader and the best-placed Australian after a brutal second round at Te Arai Links, 100km north of Auckland in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

The 18-year-old Queenslander shot a fine two-under 69 on Friday, when only five golfers broke par.<\/p>\n

Gomez believes should 50kmh winds which buffeted the field continue, anything is possible at a tournament offering a spot in next year\u2019s US Masters and British Open to the winner.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely anyone within seven shots of a championship leader \u2026 has a really good shot,\u201d Gomez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it doesn\u2019t change my mindset at all, I have just got to stick to my game plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another Australian, Jonty Lunson, shares that sentiment as he enters the weekend at one over.<\/p>\n

\"Lunson\"\/Australia\u2019s Jonty Lunson during his second round at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. (PR IMAGE PHOTO<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce the wind picked up, it got very tough,\u201d 19-year-old Lunson said after carding a one-under 70 on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo breaking par, definitely very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hailing from Tasmania, Lunson was pragmatic about the winds which took a heavy toll.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have played in a lot worse. It\u2019s still manageable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Thailand\u2019s defending champion Fifa Laopakdee still holds the lead after following his eight-under 63 on Thursday with a one-over 72.<\/p>\n

Lunson agreed Laopakdee, who holds a two-shot cushion from second-placed New Zealander Cooper Moore, can be caught.<\/p>\n

Leaving it all out on the course. New Zealand\u2019s Cooper Moore ends on a high note with a birdie on No. 18 to finish in solo second at -5. #AACGolf https:\/\/t.co\/LlXUsb548f<\/p>\n

\u2014 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (@AAC_Golf) October 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely doable,\u201d said Lunson, who started his round on the 10th hole.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was three under through nine (holes), made the turn and bogeyed (holes) one and two pretty bad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI then hit (approach shots to) between 10 and 20 feet on all seven holes and didn\u2019t make a single putt, a lot of them were close.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust do the same thing, get rid of those two bad bogeys in the middle, and hopefully hole a few putts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could have been a lot worse \u2013 and there is a lot worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

In that category fell Laos\u2019 Anon Phachanthavong whose second-round 102 included a 15 on the 108 metre par-3 17th. His tournament finished at 53 over.<\/p>\n

\"Takis\"\/Australia\u2019s Harry Takis tees off in his second round at a windswept Te Arai Links. (PR IMAGE PHOTO<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s top-ranked amateur Harry Takis, also the top-ranked golfer in the field, is three over after a four-over 75 on Friday.<\/p>\n

Compatriot Kayan Madaduna is two over after also shooting 75 on Friday, with fellow Australians Wesley Hinton nine over and Sam Cascio 10 over for the tournament.<\/p>\n

The cut was 14 over, with Australian pair Graham Hourn (16 over) and Rick Heath (19 over) outside that marker.<\/p>\n

This article was made possible with support from the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s Harrison Gomez says he\u2019s in with a sniff after weathering wicked winds which battered golfers at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":946288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,1736,405163,10956,85],"class_list":["post-946287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-new-zealand","tag-overseas-sport","tag-pacific","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=946287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/946288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=946287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=946287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}