Dodt, a New South Wales native who is making his debut on the Royal Pines layout, was a winner of the 2014 Queensland Open so may have fond memories of the region. He ticked red three times on both nines: at 3, 8 and 9 going out, then 14, 15 and 17 on returning to the clubhouse. His only error came at the final hole, where he made a bogey-5. “The first nine holes were really solid,” he said, “and then the back nine was as good as it gets, really. I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens and holed some putts. I’ll take it one shot at a time, one hole at a time. I’m really happy with where I’m at mentally, I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing.” Earlier this year he led the Mauritius Open by three at halfway, only to card a disastrous 77-76 over the closing 36 holes, falling back to T5 in the process. He’ll be hoping to use that experience positively rather than let it loom over his shoulder.