When he finished his round in Sunday’s Dubbo Open he found himself confronted by a horde of patrons and fellow competitors keen to congratulate him while there was also a number waiting schooners already purchased for the 18-year-old.

“I wasn’t really thinking about it. I knew I’d had a good round but I didn’t think it was as good as everyone else thought it was and they all seemed more shocked than I was,” he said.

What Comerford had done was not just defend his crown, he had played one of the best rounds ever seen at Dubbo Gold Club.

Comerford, who is also currently studying for his looming HSC exams, won by a huge 12 shots.

That was largest winning record in the 27-hole event’s proud history while he also set a new course record for holes one-18 when he scored a nine under par 62.

Comerford finished at -11, with nine birdies, two eagles and a pair of bogeys scored on the way to the mammoth win.

“I had the goal to birdie the par fives and par everywhere else and when I made a couple of bogies early on I went on and birdied 25, 27 and got on a bit of a run and then momentum then pushed me on,” he said.

“I ended up going a bit better than I thought I would.”

While still slightly annoyed to hit two bogeys, Comerford said the “nine birdies and two eagles made up for that”.

The young gun, who is set to depart for college in the United States to further his development next year, said the biggest factor in helping him record these elite results is goal-setting.

While his natural talent was often good enough to see him win through his junior years, it takes more than that when taking on vastly more experienced campaigners.

It’s not only helping win win, but also helping him achieve his goals.

Comerford said from when he was roughly 12 years of age he wanted to make a career out of golf and the move to the US is the next step in achieving that.

The talented teenager heads to the College of Canyons in California in January and he hopes to move on to a top quality division one college after that.

Division one is the highest level of college athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States.

“Hopefully in 2019 I can go into a Division 1 college. I’ve had interest from about 15 to 25 colleges so hopefully I can get in there,” he said.

“It’s exciting but it’s also a bit scary as well going over myself but it’s been my goal since I was 12 or 13 to go over there and get access to those facilities so I’m definitely excited and can’t wait.”

In Sunday’s Open, Matt Gleeson finished second at +1, while Mitch Bourne and Duntryleague legend Robert Payne were at +3 and fellow Dubbo hope Errol Toomey rounded out the top five with his score of +5.

The win followed on from the recent success Comerford enjoyed at the  Eric Apperly Shield, where the Dubbo talent was part of the victorious Bonnie Doon team.