Locals lament missed chances

LOCAL stars Deyen Lawson and Ben Eccles will spend the weekend licking their wounds after they failed to make the cut at the Vic Open.

Eccles shot three-under yesterday to sit at four-under for the championship, while Lawson shot two-under to be three-under overall.

The cut was a staggering five-under after two days of favourable conditions led to some seriously low scoring.

Teeing off on the Beach’s 10th hole, Eccles made a flying start, making the turn at threeunder for the day.

But he could not find any more birdies during his second nine, missing a couple of decent opportunities to get himself above the line.

A disappointed Eccles lamented his inability to make the most of good scoring conditions during both rounds.

“I played all right today, but I think it will be short, so I’m pretty disappointed,” he said.

“It was as easy as it was going to get this morning.

“Some of the holes are really gettable, I had iron into a couple of the par fives on my back nine.

“I really didn’t take advantage of it.

“I horseshoed on the second last, which leaves a sour taste in the mouth.”

Teeing off on the Creek’s 10th hole, Lawson again struggled to get going early, making the turn at one-under before finding three birdies on the front nine.

He said he was trying too hard to “force it” knowing he needed to go low to feature during the weekend.

“You can’t try and force it out here,” Lawson said.

“The scoring is really low and you’re just trying to make everything.

“I wasn’t even nearly holing a putt.

“When everyone is going so low and you’re trying to hole every putt, it’s not a good combination.

“I eased up on the back nine and just had a bit of fun and three-under, which wasn’t too bad.

“But it’s not quite enough.”