Victorian Molly McLean fired a new course record to secure women’s medallist honours on day two of the Amateur Championships of WA at Sun City Country Club.
On a day when heavy rain and lightning played havoc with the men’s draw, McLean (The National GC) snuck in ahead of the storm to card an eight-under-par 65 and lead 16 women into the match play rounds.
McLean’s score beat the previous women’s course record by four strokes and was all the more remarkable as it featured a double-bogey on the par-four seventh.
Despite never having laid eyes on the golf course until championship week, McLean combined some ferocious hitting with sublime wedge play to top the stroke play qualifying rounds at 11-under-par – six clear of Lake Karrinyup’s Sheridan Clancy.
“It’s quite a short course, so I had a lot of wedges in and I found the greens pretty easy to read, so that all helped [set the record],” McLean told GolfWA.
Feeling good about her chances of making a strong title run, McLean added: “I’ve putted well the last couple of days and if I can get my wedges going a little bit more, hit some more fairways, it should be a good few days.”
There was still fun to be had on course despite the heavy weather
The stroke play medal comes hand-in-hand with an exemption into the same year’s WA Open, but McLean’s impending US college commitments – she starts at the University of South Carolina in August – look likely to deny her the opportunity.
Nevertheless, as one of the few eastern staters to make the trek over to for the championship, McLean says she has already gained a lot from the experience.
“I have family over here, so that’s an easy one to get me back over here to see them, but [the WA Amateur] is just a good event.
“There are some great golf courses over here, the weather’s good, and there’s a lot to do, so I definitely recommend it [to other eastern state golfers].”
Smith rolls back the years
Playing in her first state championship since turning professional in 2009, Kristie Smith’s bid to add a second WA Women’s Amateur title to her resume 20 years after winning her first is still on track.
A model of consistency, Smith followed up her first round 72 with a two-under-par 71 to cruise into the match play rounds as the fourth seed, a stroke behind Mount Lawley’s Valerie Khuu.
Kristie Smith coasted into the match play draw as fourth seed
Defending champion Amanda Gan (Royal Fremantle) is also safely through into the knockout rounds as the sixth seed, with 2021 champion Amie Phobubpa (Joondalup CC) and current WA Girls’ champion Isabella Leniartek (Royal Perth) also amongst the qualifiers.
View the women’s stroke play leaderboard here.
The seeded match play draw for the women’s championship is: –
Molly McLean (1) vs Saehi Suh (16)
Sheridan Clancy (2) vs Nim Ford (15)
Valerie Khuu (3) vs Isobel Dorrington (14)
Kristie Smith (4) vs Georgia Garner-Dart (13)
Kortni Houston (5) vs Taehee Woo (12)
Amanda Gan (6) vs Heejoo Cho (11)
Grace Operchal (7) vs Isabella Leniartek (10)
Katie Seol (8) vs Amie Phobubpa (9)
Men’s draw still in the balance
The three-hour weather delay meant that play in the men’s competition could not be completed on schedule, with the remnants of the second stroke play round set to resume at 7.30am on Friday.
The top 32 men will qualify for the knockout match play rounds but with a third of the field yet to complete their stroke play rounds, the seedings will not be finalised until late morning.
If required, the Australian Countback System will decide the qualifiers rather than a playoff.
View the current men’s stroke play standings here.
Keep up with the latest WA golf news news via the GolfWA news section and our Facebook and Insta accounts. You can also subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter here.
