Hai Phong, Vietnam: Australia are poised to complete a hat-trick of team title successes at the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Senior Amateur Championships.

Building on their fast start in Wednesday’s opening round, the Australian quartet of Ken Brewer, Peter Bennett, David Gannon and Bradley Dowling surged clear in the men’s event over the Marsh Course at Vinpearl Hai Phong.

With Brewer and Bennett both firing three-under 69s and Gannon contributing a 73, Australia posted a five-under 211 day two team aggregate in the event in which the best three daily scores in each four-man team are counted.

Heading into Friday’s final round, Australia hold a seemingly unassailable 13-stroke advantage from Korea with New Zealand one shot further back in third.

Meanwhile, in a tighter contest on the adjacent Lake Course, the trio of Sue Wooster, Gemma Dooley and Louise Mullard saw their overnight four-shot lead reduced to three by the resilient Japanese duo of Haruko Hirabayashi and Shiori Uchiyama.

In the battle for individual honours, Korean Heo Ji-baek will spearhead the attempts to prevent an Australian clean sweep of all four pieces of silverware on offer.

Putting masterfully, he carded a second successive two-under 70 to lead the men’s standings on 140 – one in front of Brewer, two ahead of Bennett and three clear of fellow-Korean Kim Dong-sub.

In joint fifth on 146, and still with realistic ambitions of claiming the individual title, are New Zealand’s Stuart Duff, the 2019 champion and joint runner-up last year, and Hong Kong China’s Jay Won.

Topping the women’s individual leaderboard is Wooster, the defending champion.

Despite a three-putt bogey on the 18th hole, Wooster signed for a one-under 71, the first sub-par return of the tournament by a female. With a 143 total, she is two in front of compatriot Dooley, the first-round leader here and runner-up to Wooster last year, and Japan’s Hirabayashi.

Brewer, who was five-under for his round today before running up a double-bogey six at the 15th, said there would be no complacency among the Australian players.

“When you have a big lead, you have to have the mindset to go out there and make as many pars as possible. Pars are golden,” said the 64-year-old, who was part of the triumphant Australian team in the APGC Seniors in Malaysia in 2022 when he finished third individually.

Although he was unable to participate last year, Australia retained their title at Vinpearl Resort and Golf Nam Hoi An in Quang Nam, meaning they have sights firmly set on making it three-in-a-row tomorrow.

Brewer had special praise for his local caddie. “He’s a really good young caddie who knows the lines on the greens, which has been really helpful for me,” said Brewer, making his 10th international appearance for Golf Australia.

In contrast, 59-year-old Bennett is making his international debut. Wielding his broomhandle putter to good effect, he followed his first-round 73 with an accomplished, bogey-free 69.

After nine holes of round two it was Gannon who was leading the charge for Australia, almost holing his approach to the par-four ninth as he went out in four-under 32.

With temperatures soaring, however, he was unable to maintain that hot pace, suffering a triple-bogey seven at the 12th as he came back in 41.

Dowling, the fourth member of the Australian line-up, improved on his opening-day 76 by two shots but, for the second day in succession, his score was not counted.

In the women’s event, Wooster, Dooley and Mullard will have to be at their best to stave off their Japanese pursuers on Friday if they're to make it three wins on the trot for Australia since the women's segment was inaugurated by the APGC in 2022.

“We’ll just try our best,” said Hirabayashi who, like her friend and team-mate Uchiyama, is appearing in Vietnam for the first time.

With both players returning even-par 72s, Japan’s second-day team total of 144 was one better than Australia for whom the scores of Wooster (71) and Dooley (74) were counted.

While Wooster’s round was made up of three birdies and two bogeys, Dooley had a roller-coaster day, her two-over score containing five birdies against five bogeys and a double-bogey seven at the long sixth.

Leading Men’s Team Scores

431 – Australia 220-211
444 – Korea 223-221
445 – New Zealand 223-222
461 – India 226-235
463 – Hong Kong China 231-232; Myanmar 230-233
468 – Vietnam 234-234

Leading Men’s Individual Scores

140 – Heo Ji-baek (Korea) 70-70
141 – Ken Brewer (Australia) 72-69
142 – Peter Bennett (Australia) 73-69
144 – Kim Dong-sub (Korea) 73-71
146 – Stuart Duff (New Zealand) 75-71; Jay Won (Hong Kong China) 71-75
147 – Malcolm Gullery (New Zealand) 74-73; Jang Myung-duk (Korea) 70-77
148 – David Gannon (Australia) 75-73
149 – U Soe (Myanmar) 73-76
150 – Bradley Dowling (Australia) 76-74; Ko Ko Aye (Myanmar) 76-74

Leading Women’s Team Scores

290 – Australia 145-145
293 – Japan 149-144
310 – New Zealand 154-156
320 – Hong Kong China 160-160
334 – Singapore 159-175

Leading Women’s Individual Scores

144 – Sue Wooster (Australia) 73-71
146 – Haruko Hirabayashi (Japan) 74-72; Gemma Dooley (Australia) 72-74
147 – Shiori Uchiyama (Japan) 75-72
148 – Lisa Herbert (New Zealand) 73-75
153 – Louise Mullard (Australia) 76-77
158 – Cathy Chung (Hong Kong China) 78-80