Ryan Peake has held off a fast-finishing Adam Davey to claim the 2020 Aglime Sand Green Championship of Western Australia at Riverview Golf Club.
Peake started the day two shots off the lead and one clear of playing partner, Davey. Early birdies on the second and third holes gave Peake the lead and another on the 9th had him making the turn at 3-under.
Not content to watch his playing partner have all the fun, Davey carded four birdies of his own on the front nine. A lone bogey at the 6th saw him turn at 2-under, one shot behind Peake.
Chris Rawes kept a clean scorecard through nine holes and a birdie on the par-5 second hole moved him to 2-under overall and level with Davey with nine holes to play. An even-par back nine wasn’t enough to keep up with Davey and Peake and the Championship was suddenly a two-horse race.
Davey bogeyed 10 but rebounded quickly with birdies at the 11th and 12th to move up to 3-under. Peake matched Davey’s birdie on 11 but quickly gave a shot back with a bogey at the par-3 12th.
Davey was the first to stumble when he carded a bogey on the 16th, a long par-4 that sweeps to the left and plays uphill all the way to the green. Peake managed another par and suddenly held a one-stroke lead with two holes to play.
The pressure was straight back on Peake when his tee shot on 17 ran long through the green. A good up-and-down followed but Davey still had a birdie putt that would see him draw back level if holed. Unbelievably, Davey’s putt ran all the way around the lip but didn’t drop.
After brilliant approaches by both players, Davey’s eagle putt on 18 fell agonisingly short and Peake was left with a testing 9-foot putt to clinch the Championship. Remaining calm under pressure, Peake rolled the putt in to claim his third Aglime Sand Green Championship.
Speaking after the event Peake said, “thanks to Adam [Davey] for the battle and thanks to everyone that came out and watched and supported. Hopefully, you enjoyed watching us but we really enjoy having your support and encouragement on course.”
Overnight leader Evan Sewell endured a frustrating round and never managed to mount much of a challenge. The round of the day belonged to Tim Gilotti who carded 5-under (67) on his way to breaking the long-standing Riverview GC course record.
Thank you to Riverview GC for their fantastic efforts in hosting the event over the past four days. The course was presented in beautiful condition and provided a firm but fair test to all golfers.
Thanks also to longtime sponsor of the event Aglime of Australia. Dave Gartner and his team are wonderful supporters of golf and they really do give back to the bush and regional communities that support them.
GolfWA Chairman Greg Higham announced that Augusta Golf Club (no, not that one) will host the 2022 Championship
