AUCKLAND (Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship): Malaysia’s Nateesh Ganesh endured brutal conditions to shoot a 5-over 76 for tied 14th position after the second round of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship on Friday.
With gusts of 58kph on another windswept day at Te Arai Links, the 21-year-old was joined in the weekend rounds by Danish Rizal, who added a 79 to an opening 75 in his Championship debut.
Defending champion Fifa Laopakdee of Thailand shot a 72 to hold a two-shot lead on 7-under through 36 holes, with local hope Cooper Moore lying in second place on 5-under following a 70.
Malaysia’s other representatives, Anson Yeo (73-85), Maverick Chua (73-86), Aiden Kei (84-76), Hariz Hezri (79-85) and Afham Othman (84-81), all missed the halfway cut, which was set at 13-over.
“I always feel like I can do better, but it is what it is. The condition just kept getting worse,” said Nateesh, who has won on the US Collegiate this year.
“I'm happy that I fought through at the end.”
The Malacca-born Nateesh, whose father Anatha is caddying for him, said the conditions proved to be a mental test.
“More than anything, it was mentally challenging. I feel like I played really well. I've been hitting good shots, and when you walk off a hole with a bogey, it doesn't feel great. Just have to stay patient and stay in the moment,” said Nateesh.
“Everything was hard … off the tee, second shot, and on the putting green. It's hard to judge the distances. Sometimes, you have to club up like three or four clubs, and line-wise, you need to aim like 10, 15 yards, wherever, like right or left. And where you're aiming, you have to trust it. The wind even moved balls on the putting green. That's pretty tough to commit to.”
While he dropped 10 shots from the lead, Nateesh does not intend to change his game plan. “I’ll stick to the plan, stay in the moment, stay in the present. Take it shot by shot,” he said.
“I can't really let this one day change my plan. It was a tough day.” -- Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship
