Jager in front at Lake Macquarie
BY Anthony Powter | Australian Mens Amateur Tour | 2009 Lake Macquarie Amateur | Round One | 23 Jan 2009
Australia’s top ranked amateur Matt Jager opened with a 5-under-par, 67, at the Lake Macquarie Amateur Championship for a one stroke lead over a group of four players tied in equal second including Alex Hendrick, Charles Ford, Dimitrios Papadatos and New Zealand’s, Ryan Fox.
Ryan Fox, who plays out of Auckland Golf Club, comes off an 8th place finish at last week’s New Zealand Under 23 Championships.
Jager is seeking to improve upon his world ranking of fifteen and to add another National Trial victory to his collection after claiming his maiden win at the Federal Amateur last September.
Jager is coming off a top-10 finish at last week’s NEC Master of the Amateurs in Melbourne against arguably a stronger field than that assembled here at Belmont.
Thirty-four players ended the first round under the par-72 with thirteen players, including Brendan Smith, Rhein Gibson, former champion Lester Peterson and Michael Smyth remain only three behind Jager.
The top-80 plus ties will proceed to the third round following tomorrow’s second round cut.
