Party hole surprise winner for Allenby

IN: News | Australasian PGA | Australian Open (2007) | Round Three | by Bruce Young | 15 Dec 2007

Even the man who was arguably its biggest detractor, Robert Allenby, could not now argue the merits of the introduction of a party hole to Australian Open golf.

Robert Allenby

Robert Allenby gives the crowd on the Party Hole the fist pump after his birdie during the third round

(Photo: Anthony Powter)

Allenby’s birdie from 20 feet in today’s third round took him into the outright lead in the event and he responded by throwing his ball to the crowd. So pumped was he by what was a fantastic reaction from the more than 1,500 spectators surrounding the green that he threw the ball well over the bar area behind the green when attempting to give the ball to the crowd.

Allenby’s gesture yesterday to wear ear muffs in a gesture of jest and perhaps self-mocking diffused what might otherwise have been an ugly situation over the weekend. There is little doubt that Paul McNamee’s decision to proceed with his idea of spreading the destination points in a golf tournament with the introduction of the party hole concept has worked well.

In the group following, James Nitties also holed a similar length putt and received a crowd response the likes of which he has never heard before let alone experienced for himself.

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Position	Score	Player	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	-11	Craig Parry	74	64	70	69	277
T2	-10	Brandt Snedeker	69	70	70	69	278
T2	-10	Nick O'Hern	70	66	72	70	278
T2	-10	Won Joon Lee	70	70	72	66	278
T5	-9	James Nitties	71	66	69	73	279
T5	-9	Stuart Appleby	71	68	68	72	279
T7	-8	Aaron Baddeley	70	71	69	70	280
T7	-8	Ewan Porter	70	71	70	69	280
T7	-8	Greg Chalmers	69	72	72	67	280

Position	Score	Player	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	-11	Craig Parry	74	64	70	69	277
T2	-10	Nick O'Hern	70	66	72	70	278
T2	-10	Won Joon Lee	70	70	72	66	278
T5	-9	James Nitties	71	66	69	73	279
T5	-9	Stuart Appleby	71	68	68	72	279
T7	-8	Aaron Baddeley	70	71	69	70	280
T7	-8	Ewan Porter	70	71	70	69	280
T7	-8	Greg Chalmers	69	72	72	67	280
T7	-8	Rod Pampling	73	70	69	68	280
T11	-7	Marc Leishman	72	69	71	69	281
T11	-7	Paul Sheehan	72	70	69	70	281
T11	-7	Robert Allenby	67	70	69	75	281
T14	-6	Paul Marantz	68	72	77	65	282
T14	-6	Peter O'Malley	72	71	69	70	282
T14	-6	Stephen Leaney	69	75	67	71	282
T18	-5	Geoff Ogilvy	68	72	73	70	283
T18	-5	Kane Webber	70	72	69	72	283
T20	-4	Andrew Tampion	77	67	72	68	284
T20	-4	Jarrod Lyle	70	70	73	71	284
T20	-4	Matthew Jones	74	68	71	71	284
T20	-4	Michael Sim	72	70	72	70	284
T26	-3	Andrew Bonhomme	67	70	81	67	285
T26	-3	Cameron Percy	74	70	67	74	285
T26	-3	Michael Curtain	73	71	68	73	285
T26	-3	Peter Senior	71	72	73	69	285
T26	-3	Richard Green	73	71	71	70	285
T26	-3	Steve Alker	70	71	73	71	285
T32	-2	Nathan Green	72	70	72	72	286
T32	-2	Peter Lonard	71	70	73	72	286
T32	-2	Stephen Allan	71	69	74	72	286
T32	-2	Wayne Perske	69	69	77	71	286
T38	-1	Adam Crawford	71	69	74	73	287
T38	-1	Michael Long	70	71	77	69	287
T38	-1	Scott Hend	68	74	74	71	287
T38	-1	Wade Ormsby	70	72	73	72	287
T42	Ev	Gavin Coles	71	69	71	77	288
T42	Ev	Matthew Zions	73	68	77	70	288
T45	+1	Aaron Townsend	73	71	73	72	289
T45	+1	David Smail	70	71	77	71	289
T45	+1	Marcus Fraser	77	67	77	68	289
T45	+1	Matthew Millar	71	73	71	74	289
T52	+2	Bradley Iles	69	72	76	73	290
T52	+2	David Diaz	73	71	74	72	290
T52	+2	Kim Felton	67	69	79	75	290
T52	+2	Terry Price	73	71	67	79	290
T56	+3	Brad Lamb	73	71	75	72	291
T56	+3	Terry Pilkadaris	72	72	76	71	291
T59	+4	Ed Stedman	74	69	73	76	292
T59	+4	Lucas Parsons	72	72	73	75	292
T59	+4	Scott Barr	74	70	72	76	292
T62	+5	Nick Flanagan	73	71	75	74	293
T62	+5	Scott Draper	72	72	75	74	293
66	+8	John Wade	75	69	79	73	296
Cut Ev
CUT	+1	Alistair Presnell	73	72	-	-	145
CUT	+1	Bronson La’Cassie	74	71	-	-	145
CUT	+1	Chris Campbell	74	71	-	-	145
CUT	+1	Hamish Robertson	73	72	-	-	145
CUT	+1	Heath Reed	71	74	-	-	145
CUT	+1	John Senden	71	74	-	-	145
CUT	+1	Kurt Barnes	71	74	-	-	145
CUT	+1	Rodney Booth	74	71	-	-	145
CUT	+1	Ryan Haller	74	71	-	-	145
CUT	+1	Steven Conran	71	74	-	-	145
CUT	+2	Adam Groom	71	75	-	-	146
CUT	+2	Anthony Brown	72	74	-	-	146
CUT	+2	Brendan Jones	71	75	-	-	146
CUT	+2	David Mckenzie	71	75	-	-	146
CUT	+2	Luke Hickmott	76	70	-	-	146
CUT	+2	Peter Wilson	71	75	-	-	146
CUT	+2	Scott Strange	75	71	-	-	146
CUT	+3	Anthony Summers	72	75	-	-	147
CUT	+3	Brad Kennedy	72	75	-	-	147
CUT	+3	Brett Rumford	75	72	-	-	147
CUT	+3	Leigh Mckechnie	76	71	-	-	147
CUT	+3	Mark Hensby	71	76	-	-	147
CUT	+3	Steven Bowditch	74	73	-	-	147
CUT	+4	Andrew Tschudin	74	74	-	-	148
CUT	+4	Aron Price	74	74	-	-	148
CUT	+4	Ben Bunny	79	69	-	-	148
CUT	+4	Craig Spence	78	70	-	-	148
CUT	+4	Gary Simpson	74	74	-	-	148
CUT	+4	Mark Brown	72	76	-	-	148
CUT	+4	Matthew Ecob	76	72	-	-	148
CUT	+4	Tim Wilkinson	73	75	-	-	148
CUT	+5	Aaron Black	76	73	-	-	149
CUT	+5	Adam Bland	74	75	-	-	149
CUT	+5	Gavin Flint	75	74	-	-	149
CUT	+5	Josh Geary	71	78	-	-	149
CUT	+5	Steven Hassett	76	73	-	-	149
CUT	+6	David Lutterus	77	73	-	-	150
CUT	+6	Euan Walters	77	73	-	-	150
CUT	+6	Jarrod Moseley	76	74	-	-	150
CUT	+6	Peter Fowler	72	78	-	-	150
CUT	+6	Scott Laycock	74	76	-	-	150
CUT	+6	Wayne Grady	73	77	-	-	150
CUT	+7	Richard Lee	71	73	-	-	295
CUT	+7	David Gleeson	77	74	-	-	151
CUT	+7	Doug Holloway	73	78	-	-	151
CUT	+7	Shane Baxter	75	76	-	-	151
CUT	+8	Paul Gow	75	77	-	-	152
CUT	+8	Steven Jeffress	74	78	-	-	152
CUT	+8	Tony Carolan	76	76	-	-	152
CUT	+9	Daniel Bakss	77	76	-	-	153
CUT	+9	Paul Spargo	77	76	-	-	153
CUT	+9	Peter Martin	81	72	-	-	153
CUT	+9	Ryan Hammond	77	76	-	-	153
CUT	+10	Paul Donahoo	77	77	-	-	154
CUT	+11	Andrew Pitt	78	77	-	-	155
CUT	+11	David Bransdon	78	77	-	-	155
CUT	+13	Matthew Guyatt	79	78	-	-	157
CUT	+13	Tim Wise	84	73	-	-	157
CUT	+13	Tristan Lambert	78	79	-	-	157
CUT	+14	Matthew Ballard	80	78	-	-	158
CUT	+14	Michael Campbell	78	80	-	-	158
CUT	+22	Simon Pope	81	85	-	-	166
WD	-	Wayne Riley	83	-	-	-	WD

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About the Author: Bruce Young

A multi-award winning golf journalist, Bruce's extensive knowledge of the game comes from several years caddying the tournament circuits of the world, marketing a successful golf course design company and as one of Australia's leading golf journalists and commentators.

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