"I enjoy all of the tournaments I play in Australia," Ottogalli, a two handicapper, said. "The golf courses are beautiful, better than my golf courses. I've met a lot of good players and my partners [on Tuesday] were very friendly and all of the people in Australia are very friendly."

Ottogalli was lured across the Pacific Ocean to play in the Harvey Junior Week of Golf in Sydney last week with the assistance of Jack Newton Junior Golf chief executive officer Peter von Wegen. He has extended his stay to add an international presence to the 90-hole tournament in the Illawarra this week.

Ottogalli is fourth in the overall standings after carding a wind-interrupted 79 at The Grange yesterday.

Organiser Derk de Vries said the tournament committee haD also welcomed a group of golfers from the far west of NSW including places such as Bourke, Nyngan, Warren and Condobolin.

"They come here and play two days every year," he said. "We've got everything covered and we send invitations and entry forms all over the place. We're down in numbers at the moment, but hopefully in the future we'll be back up to 120 again."

On the course, Travis Smyth hit the lead for the first time in the overall standings after a third round 74 handed him a one-shot buffer. He tied for the day's best score with 15-year-old David Woodall, who is now one shot adrift of Smyth in the race for tournament honours.

Overnight leader Ben Clapham slipped to third and four shots behind Smyth after a tough 81 yesterday.

The Links Shell Cove's Jamie Krzyszczak impressed with a 72 as he and his under 14s colleagues played off the shorter tees.

Natika Dunn surged to the lead in the girls competition after a composed 86 at The Grange. She boasts a 10-stroke lead from Stefanie Hall.