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Feb 6-9, 2025

13th Beach Golf Links, VIC

06 Feb 2025 | Professional golf |

#VicOpen blog 2025: We're away at 13th Beach

by Golf Australia

Jasper Stubbs Vic Open image
Jasper Stubbs is one of the star attractions at the Vic Open. Photo: Daniel Pockett

Live scoring

Signing off from 13th Beach

That's it for today. Final leaderboards look like this:

Men - 10 under Kade McBride; 8-under Josh Geary; 7-under Siddharth Nadimpalli, Jake McLeod, Mathew Goggin, Austin Bautista, Kyle Michel, Declan O'Donovan.

Women - 7-under Shina Kanazawa (Japan); 6-under Madoka Kimura (Japan); 5-under Robyn Choi, Kelsey Bennett.

Round two begins at 7.45am tomorrow.

Geary fires on Beach

Josh Geary had a blinder this afternoon on the Beach course, shooting an 8-under 64 to put himself in the mix.

Kiwi Geary came home in 30 including birdies on his last three holes to log the best round of the day on the Beach course, which will host the full weekend's action in the Vic Open.

Another Japanese player shines

Japan has the top two players in the women's tournament at the Vic Open, after Madoka Kimura shot a 6-under par 67 on the Creek course in the afternoon to put herself within a shot of the leader, Shina Kanazawa. Of the Australians, Kelsey Bennett and Robyn Choi are tied-third at 5-under.

Nice afternoon on the Bellarine The breezes remain reasonably light at 13th Beach and some of our men are making good progress including Kyle Michel and Ryan Peake who are -7 with one to play and Lachlan Barker -6 with five left on the Creek course.

Leaders hold sway

The morning rounds have produced the best scores on day one, with Japan's Shina Kanazawa leading the women's and Kade McBride's brilliant 62 holding sway in the men's, and it is a matter of waiting to see if anyone can overhaul them.

However the wind is still light and players like Kyle Michel and Quinn Croker (6-under through 14 holes) are still in the mix for the first-round lead.

In the women's event a cluster of players are at 3-under and just four behind Kanazawa.

Meanwhile the Japanese Tour star has spoken about her mentorship with the great Jiyai Shin, who brought her here as part of a golf camp in Australia.

"She (Shin) teaches me a lot, technique and mentality,” said Kanazawa.

Kanazawa surprises

Japanese Tour player Shina Kanazawa came to the Vic Open working in one of former world No. 1 Jiyai Shin's training camps, a regular part of Shin's trips Down Under.

But the 29-year-old Kanazawa was not content with playing second fiddle.

A 7-under par 66 on the Creek course gives her the lead in the women's event.

She had eight birdies and a bogey on a course she has become familiar with; Shin's group have been staying locally for a few days.

McBride's near miss

Kade McBride fell a single shot away from Jake McLeod and Ryan Ruffels' course record for the Creek course of 61, and his putt to equal it at the par-4 ninth touched the hole but refused to go in.

McBride and McLeod are good friends. "So it would've been nice to, I was thinking about it," said McBride. "I was like, I can't wait to break Jake's course record."

McLeod who is staying with McBride locally had a good day himself, shooting 7-under.

Kanazawa at the top

Aussie pair Robyn Choi and Kelsey Bennett have got it in the clubhouse at 5-under, but it is Japan's Shina Kanazawa who leads the women's at 6-under.

She's through 15-holes so has the opportunity to pick up a couple more on the way in.

McBride goes ultra-low

With eight birdies and an eagle on the Creek Course, Queenslander Kade McBride has got his 2025 Vic Open campaign off to the perfect start posting 10-under on day one.

He leads by three over trio Sid Nadimpalli, Jake McLeod, and Matthew Goggin, who all had 7-under on the Creek.

Five tied at the top It's a close race in the women's Vic Open as the morning field hits their second nine in round one. Robyn Choi, Jazy Roberts, Kay Bannan, Amelia Harris and Claire Shin all at -4.

McBride on the move

There's now an outright leader in the men's event with Queensland's Kade McBride -8 after 12 holes on the Creek course.

Players going low

Scoring is low in light breezes at 13th Beach on the opening day of the Vic Open.

Six men are tied for the lead at 4-under - Queenslanders Anthony Quayle, Kade McBride and James Mee along with Victorians Andrew Martin, Sid Nadimpalli and Nathan Page.

In the women's, amateur Jazy Roberts leads at 2-under. Her fellow-Victorian Amelia Harris had a share of the lead early but tumbled with a double bogey 7 on the par-5 fifth hole on the Beach course.

Home advantage

If anyone knows their way around 13th Beach it's Andrew Martin, who is a member of the club. The Victorian has made a red hot start with three straight birdies on the front nine of the Creek course to be joint-leader of the men's tournament at -3 with fellow-Victorian Nathan Page and Andrew Campbell (NSW).

In the women's tournament, former world No. 1 Jiyai Shin is out on the Creek course in her first round but the leaders are two amateurs from Yarra Yarra Golf Club, Jazy Roberts and Amelia Harris at 2-under.

Both Roberts and Harris are part of the Golf Australia High Performance programs.

Page turner

Nathan Page of Victoria has taken the early lead in the men's tournament with birdies at his first two holes on the Creek course.

Meanwhile the first groups of women are just hitting the course in good scoring conditions. Winds are being measured at just 6 kilometres an hour at 13th Beach this morning, which is as close as it gets to perfect at this seaside location.

Page, 21, is virtually restarting his professional golf career after injury problems. He was a plus-maker at The National when he was just 13 years old.

--

Welcome to 13th Beach Golf Links for the 2025 Vic Open and we can report that it's a cool, overcast morning with sunny skies forecast for later today. The wind is also minimal this morning, potentially giving the players with early tee times an advantage.

Today's forecast high at Barwon Heads is 29 degrees.

First tee-offs on both the Beach and Creek courses are at 7.45am.

Among the stars out early today are Anthony Quayle (8.07, Beach), defending men's champion Brett Coletta (8.07, Creek), while defending women's champion Ashley Lau and former world No. 1 Jiyai Shin are off the 10th tee of the Creek course at 9.02am.

This is the 12th iteration of the Vic Open to be played at the beautiful seaside links here at 13th Beach.

Andrew Martin Vic Open image
Andrew Martin plays his golf out of 13th Beach and is enjoying his home track.

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