CHARLESTOWN’S James Nitties recovered from a double bogey at the opening hole to be at one under after the second round of the Australian Masters at Metropolitan and a faint hope of earning his first gold jacket.
Nitties followed his opening par round of 72 with a 71 on Friday to be in a share of 30th place, eight strokes behind Queensland leader Matthew Wright.
Leigh McKechnie fired the same scores to lead the six-strong Hunter contingent.
Nathan Green added a 71 to his 73 on Friday to be even par and make the two-over cut.
Fellow Toronto-based professional Callan O’Reilly was not as fortunate, missing weekend play by a stroke after rounds of 73 and 74.
Aaron Townsend (80, 74) and Ed Stedman (79, 75) failed to qualify for the weekend.
Starting his second round on the 10th tee, Nitties crashed to a six at the 418-metre par-four hole.
He picked up shots at the 13th and 15th to turn even and added two further birdies and a bogey on his back nine.
McKechnie also made a slow start, dropping two shots on the opening three holes.
