A friendly round in the Wodonga Golf Club Monday competition with his father and his brother quickly became the stuff of dreams for Zach Murray.
Murray, who plays on the PGA Tour of Australasia, DP World Tour and the Asian Tour, shot the lowest ever score at his home club with a remarkable 14-under par round of 58.
The two-time professional winner – at the 2019 NZ Open and the 2018 WA Open – had gone close to shooting golf’s magic number, 59, previously but he had never experienced anything like Monday’s round.
“I’ve had 60 a couple of times but that was 10-under. I’ve also shot 62 a couple of times at Wodonga. I really can’t explain it,” Murray said.
“I just kept making birdies. It was weird. 14-under is something else.”
Murray made ten birdies and two eagles to take out the competition with 41 stableford points off a plus-nine handicap, and he could do no wrong.
“When I did do something wrong, I’d chip it in,” he said.
“I hit a couple of bad shots just right of the green. One on the 11th hole, and I chipped that in, and then one on the 8th hole, which was my second last hole.
“I actually said to the guys ‘a chip in would be really nice because that would give me a chance to birdie the last to shoot 59’. I chipped it in and then eagled the last. I was like ‘things are going well today I might have to buy a Tattslotto ticket’.”
He will be hoping that good fortune carries over to next week’s NSW Open at Concord Golf Club where he is eager to notch up a win after a number of near misses this summer in the form of top-tens at TPS Murray River (T3), the Vic Open (T8) and the Singapore Open (T9).
“Even though it was just a round at Wodonga, I thought it was a good opportunity to put into practice what I would have to do in a tournament,” Murray said.
“The last three events I’ve had chances to win and I’ve lost a bit of focus. I got too focused on the win rather than what I had to do to win. I’m trying to work harder on that to give myself a better chance to win on Sundays.
“It sounds really cliche but it’s actually a pretty good skill to have to go one shot at a time. It’s something that’s easy to say but hard to do. When there is the result at the forefront of your mind, it’s easy to lose a bit of focus on what you actually have to do.”
Murray’s 58 does not count as the official course record as he did not play from the back tees, but those details do not phase him. Instead, he was simply thrilled to share such special memories with his family.
“For dad to witness it and mum actually came down with a couple of holes to play to watch so that was pretty cool as well,” he said.
