Mitch Davis admits golf can be a lonely sport, but the tough times only make rounds like the one he produced at Dubbo Golf Club on Monday all the more special.
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The Sydneysider was the early leader of the Western Open, part of the Golf NSW Regional Open Series, after producing a bogey-free -5.
It was an extremely satisfying performance for the 31-year-old, who has had plenty of highs and lows since joining the pro tour roughly eight years ago.
"It's been a bit of a battle, really," he said.
Things had been particularly difficult in more recent times as Davis virtually gave up on the sport during the COVID pandemic and spent more time driving trucks and delivering roof tiles around Sydney for his father to maintain a pay cheque.
But in recent months things have turned back towards sport, and plenty of work under the the mentorship of Jeff Wagner had him back in the swing of things.
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He proved his quality on Monday, finding greens regularly on his way to shooting a score of 67 at a Dubbo course that held up extremely well given the amount of rain which had fallen in the past week.
"The last six months I've been practicing pretty hard and playing some good golf," he said.
"It's been probably eight years of battle and I probably haven't put in as much as I should have, but I have the past six months.
"It helps. It can be a pretty lonely game and you can put in as much as you want and it just doesn't go your way."
Teeing off as part of the fourth group of the day at 7.30am on Monday, Davis hit birdies on the third and eighth holes before producing further birdies on the 10th, 14th, and 15th during a strong back nine.
"It felt pretty good. I didn't really hit any bad shots, it was pretty solid all day. I kept it in play and holed a few putts so it was pretty good," he said.
"It wasn't that wet. It was pretty dry. There wasn't many mud balls or anything like that. The course was pretty mint for how much rain it's had."
As good as Davis' round was, it wasn't enough to stay on top all day as Daniel Gale produced a stunning six birdies on his final nine holes to take the lead with -9.
Charlie Dunn and Grace Kim also finished at -7.
Davis will still be in one of the main groups for Tuesday's second round and he's firmly in the running for the $50,000 winner's prize.
On top of that, the top three placegetters at each Regional Open Series event earn passage through to the NSW Open.
"The opportunity is amazing," Davis added.
"You get $50,000 for coming out and playing at these good courses in the country towns, it's awesome."
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