JYE Halls' star continues to rise after the Mollymook Golf Club product's strong opening rounds at the Australian Amateur.
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Halls, 16, opened the four-day tournament, held at Kooyonga Golf Club, with a 69, before backing it up with a 77 in round two - leaving him two over par, in a tie for 40th position.
"I didn't start as well as I would have liked, being five over through eight, before birdieing nine," the Ulladulla High School student said.
"I then rattled off six pars in a row, before birdieing the 16th, double-bogeying the 17th and parring the 18th.
"As this is the biggest tournament I've played in, I was probably started the day a little nervous."
Despite his rough day, Halls, who is now part of the NSW Golf Club, has already pinpointed areas that need improvement for the rest of the competition - which started in 1896 and has big name past winners such as Cameron Davis (2017), Cameron Smith (2013), Brendon Jones (1999) and Greg Chalmers (1993).
"Unfortunately I didn't hole as many puts today as yesterday, even though I thought I was hitting them better in round two," Halls, who is coached by Mollymook's Luke Grinham (who is also the Golf NSW southern regional manager), said.
"The greens were a little faster and harder today, which obviously didn't help but that happens in golf - I've just got to stay calm, be patient for birdies and not try and force anything.
"Despite a down day, I'm still confident my number is enough to make the cut for the second half of the tournament (which Halls did)."
At the end of day two, Jack Thompson (12 under) leads the way in the tournament, which is being played as a straight 72 hole stroke event for the first time in history.
It traditionally was a 36 hole qualifying before the top 64 progress into the knockout matchplay.