WA’s star-crossed campaign at the Australian Interstate Teams Matches ended on a positive note with victory over Tasmania on the final day.
Having lost their opening four matches against stern opposition from QLD, Victoria, NSW and South Australia, today’s match was a chance for WA to finish on a high, which they duly did, posting a 6-2 win.
Joondalup’s Tom Addy raced to the quickest point of the day, winning his match against Jack Tregaskisjago 7&6, while there were further big wins for Erina Tan (5&3), Abbie Teasdale (6&4) and Josh Greer (5&4).
Amanda Gan and Joe Buttress also edged their matches but Celine Chen and Connor Fewkes were narrowly beaten.
The win gave WA its first point of the series and confirmed a 5th-place finish in the overall team standings. Host state NSW wrapped up the title with a comprehensive 6.5-1.5 win over South Australia in the afternoon final.
In their respective divisions, WA’s women finished 4th from the six teams with two wins and three losses, and the men in 5th, also with two wins and three defeats.
Despite some positives, WA captain Connor Fewkes couldn’t gloss over a disappointing week for his team at Sydney’s St Michael’s Golf Club.
Overall, it was a disappointing week for WA captain Connor Fewkes and his teammates
“There’s no sugarcoating it, we had some pretty poor results,” he told GolfWA. “What’s most frustrating is that we led all our first four matches 6-2 through nine holes but couldn’t close them out and we gave a few matches away.”
There were some reasons for cheer, though, Fewkes added, with valuable experience gained for some of the state’s up-and-coming talents.
“We lost three of our best players from last year – Hayden Hopewell, Kirsten Rudgeley and Connor McKinney – to the pro ranks and they’re difficult players to replace,” Fewkes said.
“A positive from this year is that we were able to blood some new players who will have gained vital experience that will hold them in good stead for future matches. And we saw some great golf from Jordan Doull, who was unlucky not to have gone unbeaten in his four matches. His performances were probably the biggest positive we can take from the week.”
Fewkes also paid tribute to Josh Greer, who has almost certainly represented WA for the last time after he earned his tour card for next season’s PGA Tour of Australasia.
“Josh is another player who’ll be very hard to replace,” he said. “He had a lot of tough matches this week against the top players from across the eastern states and he played very well. He’ll be missed.”
Match 5 vs Tasmania
Amanda Gann beat Mackenzie Thomas 2&1
Tom Addy beat Jack Tregaskisjago 7&6
Erina Tan beat Jorjah Bailey 5&3
Joe Buttress beat Greg Longmore 1UP
Celine Chen lost 3&1 to Hallie Meaburn
Connor Fewkes lost 3&1 to Ronan Filgate
Abbie Teasdale beat Mackenzie Wilson 6&4
Josh Greer beat Joey Bower 5&4
Final score: WA 6 – 2 Tasmania
View full results and team standings here.
Image credits: Australian Golf Media
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