By: Neal Maidment
GolfWA has announced its state squads for 2023, with several of Australia’s leading amateur golfers lining up to represent Western Australia in interstate competitions in April and May.
Three squad training sessions will take place between January and March before the final state teams in the open and junior categories are selected.
Of note, reigning WA Amateur champion Adam Hatch, aged 38, returns to the men’s squad and is joined by 15-year-old Josiah Edwards, whom he narrowly beat to win the WA title in 2022. Seventeen-year-old Joseph Buttress has also been named in the men’s squad for the first time after a stellar 2022 saw him named the Crunch&Sip GolfWA Junior Boy of the Year.
Seven of the nine members of the women’s squad are under the age of 18, with the line-up including current WA Women’s Amateur champion Celine Chen, runner-up Mia Lawson and US-bound Amie Phobubpa.
In the junior squads, 12-year-old Kortni Houston and Isabella Leniartek, 13, are the youngest players to make the girls’ squad, with 13-year-old Ollie Marsh being the youngest junior boy. Catherine Strickland is the manager of the squads, while coaching is provided by Alex McKay and Andrew MacAuslan.
Full state squads
Women: Celine Chen, Mia Lawson, Amie Phobubpa (all Joondalup CC); Ruby Cotton, Amanda Gan, Valerie Khuu, Erina Tan (all Mount Lawley GC); Jorja Hinson-Tolchard (Gosnells GC); Sophie Williams (Royal Perth GC)
Men: Tom Addy, Joshua Greer (both Joondalup CC); Adam Brady (The Vines GC); Joseph Buttress (The Western Australian GC); Jordan Doull (Mount Lawley GC); Josiah Edwards (Gosnells GC); Connor Fewkes (Goldfields GC); Michael Hanrahan Smith (Cottesloe GC); Adam Hatch (Royal Fremantle GC)
Girls: Celine Chen, Mia Lawson, (both Joondalup CC); Ruby Cotton, Amanda Gan, Valerie Khuu, Isabella Leniartek, Erina Tan (all Mount Lawley GC); Jorja Hinson-Tolchard (Gosnells GC); Kortni Houston (Lakelands CC); Chloe Veeran (Busselton GC)
Boys: George Barclay (Joondalup CC); Joseph Buttress, Riley Gott (both The Western Australian GC); Rocco Cucchiara, Braedon Law, Ollie Marsh, Mandeep Singh (all Royal Fremantle GC); Josiah Edwards (Gosnells GC)
The final state junior teams will attend April’s Australian Junior Amateur in Tasmania before representing WA in the junior interstate later that month. The senior teams will fly the flag for Western Australia in the open interstate in NSW in May.
You’ll be able to keep up with the WA teams’ progress via the GolfWA news section and our Facebook, Insta and Twitter accounts. You can also subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter here.
