It is not unheard of for talented professional sportspeople to shine in more than one sporting arena. Ash Barty, well known for her sporting prowess on the tennis court has played cricket at a professional level and this year became the Brookwater Golf Club Ladies’ Club Champion.
Recently inducted into the WA Hall of Champions, golfing legend Terry Gale had initially been on a pathway to an elite cricket career. Terry played alongside Rod Marsh and Dennis Lillee, leading the Western Australian Colts to victory over Victoria at the MCG, before becoming a professional golfer at the age of 30. The list of multi-talented athletes goes on.
Kalgoorlie local and talented WA golfing amateur Connor Fewkes is no exception to this rule. Fresh off an outstanding performance at the recent Nexus Risk WA Open, Fewkes padded up for the Great Boulder B grade cricket team at the Ray Finlayson Sporting Complex on Saturday. Fewkes hit an impressive 83 ball 98, fourteen four’s and one six, and with team-mate Brett
Simmonds put on 167 runs, 96 not out from 89.
Not only in form on the pitch, Fewkes broke two local Kalgoorlie Golf Club records this month, shooting a seven-under-par 65 on November 12 on the white tees, then two days later breaking his own record with a 63, nine under par off the blue tees.
Fewkes attributes his fine form to a tweak to his swing as recommended by his long-time coach, Craig Bishop. He has also spent time working on his psychological game and core strength.
Fewkes, please can we all have a little bit of whatever you’re having?
Twenty-year-old Fewkes modestly shared, “I was in the under 15 WACA High Performance Squad having played as a kid for North Kalgoorlie. During season 2014/15 I scored the most runs in the calendar year out of anybody in Australia. I was also selected for the Junior Tier of High Performance at Golf WA and I had to make a call. Cricket is just for social fun now and golf is my focus. I have my fingers crossed I’ll be able to attend the Masters of Amateurs in Victoria in January.”
