The PGA Tour of Australasia heads out to the Riverside Oaks Golf Resort which is located an hours drive from the centre of Sydney for the NSW PGA Championship.
Riverside Oaks is bordered by the Hawkesbury River and set amongst the natural bushland with plenty of wildlife to be found on the course. Measuring 6311 yards it is a real risk and reward course with narrow fairways with true and fast greens.
In the last two weeks we have been treated to some wonderful golf at the Australian Masters and Australian Open with class fields. This week the field is missing the class factor however there are still plenty of good players teeing it up to whet the appetite for those looking for a bet.
Sportsbet.com.au have the Top 5 in betting as- $13.00 John Younger, $15.00 Bronson La’Cassie, $19.00 Ryan Lynch, $21.00 Geoff Drakeford and $21.00 Roland Blizard.
Other notable players include $26.00 Peter O’Malley, $29.00 Peter Lonard, $34.00 Leigh McKechnie, $41.00 Nick Flanagan and $51.00 Daniel Fox.
The three players to keep an eye on this week are-
Roland Blizard $21.00 www.sportsbet.com.au
With expected heat waves expected across the Sydney area over the next week lets hope the name Blizard doesn’t bring us undone.
From mid September to early November Roland had five missed cuts on the trot. He then teed it up at the NSW Open where he finished in a tie for 5th. That tournament had the same field strength as this weeks event so you would be expecting Blizard to perform well.
After the NSW Open he played on the famous sandbelt of Australia in the Masters at Metropolitan. In a class field which had fast slick greens Roland finished in a tie for 35th. He then backed that up with a tie for 38th at the Australian Open where the wind brought many players undone. Again the greens were on the fast side.
With the greens expected to be fast again this week Blizard has to be considered as a genuine threat.
Aaron Townsend $23.00 www.sportsbet.com.au
If there is one player in the field who could run away with this tournament it is Aaron Townsend. He has been playing some great golf this season on the Australasian, China and OneAsia Tours. From 23 starts he has had five Top 10’s and ten Top 20’s.
A few stand out performances have been T6th Junding Open, T8th Cadillac Open, T16th Henan Open, T15th China Masters and T14th WA Open Championship. All these results have come in the last three months. Aaron then missed the cut at the Perth International and Australian Masters.
Last week he got the form back on track with a fantastic tie for 10th at the Australian Open finishing a shot in front of players like Rory McIlroy, Boo Weekley, Steven Bowditch and Richard Green. With rounds of 73, 70, 71, 71 he had a consistent tournament and contended well with the wind and fast greens.
If he brings that form this week then anything is possible.
Daniel Valente $29.00 www.sportsbet.com.au
The 29 year old Victorian has had six starts since September and produced some eye catching results. T5th South Pacific Open Championship, T49th WA Open Championship, T5th WA PGA Championship, 8th NSW Open, T40th Australian Masters and a missed cut last week at the Australian Open.
His three finishes of T5th, T5th and T8th were all in fields that were equal to this weeks tournament. With a few extra days to prepare after missing the cut last week we can expect Daniel to be ready to produce the goods.
Good luck and good punting.