By Neal Maidment
With 18 holes remaining, WA’s Joe Buttress is lying five strokes off the lead in T3rd position at the Australian Junior Amateur in Tasmania.
On a day where only a handful of players broke 70, Buttress carded a three-under-par 69 to move to -7 for the championship. He would be even closer to the lead were it not for an extraordinary round of 65 by visiting New Zealander Zackary Swanwick, who tops the leaderboard at -12, three strokes clear of the chasing pack.
Buttress, a member of The Western Australian Golf Club, was runner-up in the Boys’ Amateur last year and retains hopes of going one better despite needing to overturn a five-stroke deficit in Friday’s final round.
“I hit the ball solid today and if a few more putts drop tomorrow I’ll like my chances,” Buttress told GolfWA. “I like the course here, it’s in great condition and I’m feeling good about my game.”
Elsewhere in the boys’ event, Ollie Marsh (Wanneroo) is the next best-placed WA golfer in T13th after a level-par 72 today left him at +2 for the championship. WA duo George Barclay (Joondalup) and Josiah Edwards (Gosnells) share T24th a further three shots back, but Rocco Cucchiara (Royal Fremantle) and Braedon Law (WAGC) missed the 54-hole cut.
Only five players in the girls’ field bettered Jorja Hinson-Tolchard’s third-round 73
Four WA players will contest the final round in the girls’ event, with Gosnells’ Jorja Hinson-Tolchard the highest ranked in T15th at +9 for the tournament. Only five of the 76 girls bettered Hinson-Tolchard’s level-par third-round score of 73 at Tasmania Golf Club, while Joondalup’s Celine Chen also had a good day, her 74 seeing her move up into T22nd at +12.
Mount Lawley clubmates Erina Tan and Isabella Leniartek also made the 54-hole cut, but there was a disappointment for Kortni Houston (Lakelands), Amanda Gan, Alice Tonts, Aprileen Sirait (all Mount Lawley) and Aiyana Morris (Capel), who all bowed out.
NSW’s Ann Jang leads the event at -8, three strokes clear of New Zealand’s Eunseo Choi.
You can view the boys’ leaderboard here and the girls’ leaderboard here.
Photo credits: Australian Golf Media
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