Ben Henkel wasn’t in the spotlight – until it mattered most.

The 23-year-old Victorian made two birdies in his closing three holes to storm into a playoff, then maintained that momentum to edge Lincoln Tighe to win the New South Wales Open regional qualifier at Bateman’s Bay on Sunday

After enduring a double-bogey on the second hole of Saturday’s opening round, it was a spectacular comeback for Henkel, whose closing 67 – to reach the playoff at nine-under – came without a bogey.

Ed Donoghue set the stage with early second-round fireworks in a sparkling seven-under-par 65 to set a new Catalina Club course record.

But it appeared as though Tighe had done enough when he carded a fine 66 to wrest the clubhouse lead.

At roughly the same time, Henkel thought he’d threaded his second shot on the par-5 12^th hole through some trees, only to roar in disbelief when his ball clipped the last branch and into trouble.

But a great recovery set up one of three late birdies for his fourth win – the first at such a high level – in his rookie professional campaign.

“My coach, Kel Llewellyn, taught me the mindset of being aware of your surroundings, to centre yourself when you’re going down a path of negativity, to just bring yourself back and trust that you can make some birdies and hit the shots you need to hit,” Henkel said.

“I owe it to him for putting that mindset into my head, I definitely wasn’t born with it.”

Henkel was literally within millimetres of being a quadriplegic when he suffered a severe neck injury in a 2019 car crash that left golf far from his priority.

“I fractured my C1 vertebrae and it was a year or so with a neck brace, rehab and that sort of stuff,” the Curlewis member said.

“It was kind of more, not from the physical side of things, but mentally, I wasn’t really sure if I really cared for golf anymore, but slowly I got back into it with the help of mates back home and mum and dad and the family.

“Right now though, that seems so far away. But it’s crazy to think that, yeah, we could have gone a different route.

“So I’m very grateful to be here and playing these events, it’s all part of my mindset, I suppose.”

It had been a manic day for leaderboard watchers with no fewer than nine leaders at various stages.

Early on, it appeared as though South Coast amateur Jye Halls was the man to watch when he hit a stunning long 6-iron to within 2m for an eagle on the sixth.

But he, like many, fell away as the pressure of the back nine ramped up.

Tighe uncharacteristically couldn’t cash in on his strength and played the par-fives in even par, but used his improved short game to threaten Donoghue’s earlier course record.

But his tee shot in the playoff went left, a position from which he was unable to scramble a par, leaving Henkel as the champ, with Grierson joining that pair with tickets to play against Cam Smith at the NSW Open in November at Murray Downs.

“That sounds pretty cool when you put it like that,” Henkel said.

“I’ll just (try to) rock up, act like it’s another tournament, which it is, and just see if I can keep playing how I am.

“Obviously, these guys are the best in the world, and it’s good that he’s coming back to play and it would only be my fifth or sixth Aussie Tour event.

“So, yeah, I’m still quite fresh, but keen to get out there and give it a crack.

“I feel like my game’s good enough to compete.

“Making some birdies today when I needed to was a great feeling and especially to hole the putts when it mattered the most.”