MATT Walz is at the halfway point of his quest to win the most number of Taree Golf Club championships.
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Walz claimed his fourth title last Saturday. Now he has to get past eight - the number won by Peter Doherty.
"I was speaking to 'Doh' about that last Saturday afternoon,'' Walz said.
"Eight's the magic number. That's what I have to beat.''
Doherty is generally thereabouts come championship time and he no doubt hopes to add to his own tally. However, at the moment eight is the figure to beat.
Walz won the championship by just one shot from another past winner, Greg Turner. Walz is this week's Times-Iguana Sport Award winner, earning a $50 open order at Iguana.
He had to recover from a poor second round to get back in contention.
"I was equal leader after the first round, but I was five behind after the second,'' Walz explained.
He knew his title hopes were on the line going into the third.
"It was important that I had a good round there. Otherwise I was no chance,'' Walz admitted.
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However, cometh the hour, cometh the golfer and Walz stormed back in contention to trail Turner by the shot going into last Saturday.
Turner, Walz and Luke Sharp were the main contenders.
"I really enjoyed that ... the fact that there were so many who could win,'' Walz said.
Turner was in the group ahead of Walz in the seeded draw.
"I was a bit nervous, but I felt really good before we hit off,'' Walz said.
When he tapped in his last putt Walz knew he was still in the race.
"But I wasn't sure if I'd be in a playoff.''
However, he found out soon after that he'd won outright.
Walz currently plays off one.
"I was down to minus one at one stage,'' he said.
Work and family commitments restrict the time he has on the course during winter.
"I usually only play twice a month in winter. But when summer gets here I'm hoping to get out there more often,'' he said.
Walz has already been contacted to see if he's interested in playing in the Country Championships later this year...providing it goes ahead.
"I wouldn't mind playing in it, but it'll be held in Sydney if it goes ahead because of COVID. I'm not too sure about playing in Sydney, but I'll see how things are closer to the time,'' he said.
He works with a Newcastle-based coach, Nathan Green and he had a session with him just before the championships.
At 36, Walz has plenty of golf ahead of him. Plenty of time to get to eight championships and then more.