Hartfield’s Trevor Hughes has finished as he runner-up at the Australian Senior Amateur Championship held at Mandurah Country Club, behind winner Gordon Claney of Victoria.
Claney finished at 6-over after the three rounds and led from start to finish in a two stroke victory.
Claney’s 2-over final round was enough to hold off a challenge from Western Australian Trevor Hughes, whose 1-under round of 70 earned him an outright second finish at 8-over par.
It was a consistent day for Claney, who made just one birdie and only dropped shots on the 14th and 16th holes. His double bogey on the 14th opened the door for Hughes, who came within two strokes of the lead with four to play, but the Victorian was able to keep the field at arms length on the final stretch to secure his victory.
It’s the first national title for Claney, mainly due to the fact he hasn’t competed in a national title event in his 61 years. “I didn’t play these events when I was a younger amateur because I worked and just wasn’t really good enough,” said Claney, “so this is the first national championship I’ve played in, and it’s a great feeling to win it.”
Given the uncharted territory for the Victorian, his consistent final round suggested he handled the nerves well. But Claney says he wasn’t immune to the pressure of being in the lead into the final day.
“Last night when I went to bed they kicked in, it was definitely a nervy night in bed.”
“Today I made a solid start and didn’t face any dramas until the 8th hole where I had to lay up short because I hit a poor drive, but otherwise I had no dramas today.”
“As you get older you realise and any day you play could be a disaster, so I’ve got a very fatalistic attitude to how I play golf! But my hope was to play well today and I’m glad I did.”
In the Interstate Teams event, the Western Australian team of Harry Crosby, Robin Dybeck, Trevor Hughes and Ian McPherson secured an 11 stroke victory (274) over the second placed New South Wales team. Victoria was third, with Queensland in fourth and Tasmania in fifth.
