LIVING up to pre-tournament predictions, Wagga golfer Kurt Burns has made a blazing start to the Wagga Country Club championship.
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Freely tipped to be golfer to beat for the coveted title, Burns zoomed to the top of the championships leaderboard with a brilliant opening round on the Country Club layout on Saturday, before consolidating his advantage yesterday.
In a dominant display of power and precision, the 17-year-old young gun shot a blistering four-under par 68 in the opening round on Saturday, only blotting his card with a bogey on the par-three 18th hole.
Continuing his hot run, Burns followed up with an even par 72 yesterday to be sitting pretty with five-stroke lead after the weekend.
Firmly on target to capture the Wagga Country Club crown for the first time, Burns yesterday revealed his opening round score "could have been a lot better".
"I missed a few putts from about 15 foot," Burns said.
"The bogey on the last (hole) wasn't a good way to finish."
Beaten in a championship playoff by Jarrod Meacham in 2012, Burns did not play in the 72-hole tournament last year, which was also won by Meacham.
Now studying at a "golf college" in Sydney, Burns is Wagga's most promising golfer and could be eyeing a move to the professional ranks as early as 2016.
Beforehand, the young star has a schedule of major amateur events, including tournaments in Canberra and Coffs Harbour in the next two months.
As Burns carved up the course on the first two days at the weekend, Country Club stalwart Brian Harris stayed in contention.
Harris opened the event with a par round of 72 on Saturday and backed up with a one-over 73 yesterday.
"It's been a mixed bag," Harris said.
"It probably could have been better on Saturday, but the wind blew up today (yesterday) which made things tougher.
"The course is in terrific condition.
Currently second on the overall leaderboard - he is also clearly ahead in the veteran's division - Harris is not expecting to rein in Burns over the third and fourths rounds respectively on the coming weekend.
"The bookies would have had Kurt as odds-on before we started," Harris said.
"Nothing has changed."
Meacham's bid for a championship hat-trick is on the ropes after shooting 76-77 153 on the opening weekend.
At 13 shots behind Burns, Meacham is tied with Dave McGrath for third.
Wagga Country Club Championship
After two rounds
140 Kurt Burns (68-72)
145 Brian Harris (72-73)
153 Jarrod Meacham (76-77), Dave McGrath (75-78)