Connor Fewkes has moved to within touching distance of a first state amateur crown after an eventful day at Sun City Country Club.
WA state captain Fewkes, aged 24, is the top seed left standing after a gruelling day’s play, which saw the men contesting the round of 16 and the quarter-finals in still and humid conditions.
The morning round, in particular, was an energy-sapping experience for most of the players, with seven of the eight matches going the distance – or even into extra holes.
Mount Lawley’s Fewkes (pictured below) had to dig deeper than anyone in his last 16 clash, needing 21 holes to see off resilient Victorian Sang Jun Lee in an epic encounter.
Connor Fewkes had two contrasting wins on Day 4 of the WA Amateur
Playoff specialist Ryan Gault (Lake Karrinyup) also needed extra holes to edge Ollie Marsh, with top seed Luke Kidd (Joondalup CC) amongst several players who closed out their matches on the final green.
Another of those was defending champion George Barclay (Joondalup CC), who pipped Royal Perth’s Spencer Harrison by one hole in a gripping repeat of the 2024 men’s final.
Only 16-year-old Liam Sullivan had a comfortable time of things in the morning session as he bested fellow Vines G&CC member Declan Hoskin 6&4 in one of the best performances of his fledgling career.
All change in the afternoon
If the morning session was more about battles of attrition, the tables turned in the afternoon with two matches wrapped up in short order and neither of the other two going the distance.
After his morning scare, Connor Fewkes was in majestic form in his quarter-final match against Ryan Gault, running out a 6&5 winner courtesy of a flurry of birdies.
“I didn’t play well this morning, but I played really well this afternoon,” Fewkes told GolfWA. “I think I was about five under through nine holes and I didn’t give much away.”
Despite being a multiple winner of the the stroke play medal at the WA Amateur Championship, Fewkes has never reached this stage of the match play draw before – and he’s taking nothing for granted ahead of his semi-final against Liam Sullivan.
“I won the stroke play [medal] before, but always seem to be knocked out of the match play early,” he added. “I’d love to win it this year, but it’s match play golf and all I can do is try my hardest with every shot.”
In contrast to his breezy morning session, Sullivan had to endure a stern test against George Barclay in his quarter-final, eventually grinding out a 2&1 win to continue his excellent week.
While he was delighted with his day’s work, Sullivan says he knows he’ll need to bring his A-Game to his semi-final against Fewkes if he hopes to extend his winning run.
“It’s definitely the best week of my career so far,” a delighted Sullivan told GolfWA. “I hit a lot of good shots this morning and made lots of putts, and this afternoon I just held on, kept making pars and got it done. It feels pretty good.
“My iron game is going to have to be on tomorrow to give myself as many chances as possible, but if I get some putts dropping I’m sure it’ll be a good match.”
George Barclay (left) congratulates Liam Sullivan at the end of their quarter-final clash
On the other side of the draw, Royal Perth’s Silvester Tan will take on Adam Baillie (The Vines) for a place in the final after both produced some exceptional golf in their afternoon rounds.
Baillie, in particular, moved up a gear as he defeated top seed Luke Kidd 6&5 in a dominant display, while Tan continued to quietly go about his business with an economical 3&2 win over Jakeb Dunkley.
Tipped as a dark horse for the title by GolfWA ahead of the championship, Baillie put his successful quarter-final display down to doing the simple things well.
“I didn’t play well this morning, but I went to the range in between rounds and found something with my driver, which really helped,” he said.
“My attitude on the course was a lot better this afternoon, which showed with the result. I hit my irons well and holed pretty much everything.”
The men’s semi-finals will commence at 7.30am on Sunday morning. The winners will go head-to-head in the 18-hole final in the afternoon.
Read the wrap-up of the women’s quarter-finals here.
Men’s match play results
Round of 16 (seedings in brackets)
Luke Kidd (1) 1UP over Lachie Hall (16)
Connor Fewkes (2) defeated Sang Jun Lee (15) at 21st hole
George Barclay (3) 1UP over Spencer Harrison (19)
Jakeb Dunkley (4) 1UP over Pete Jefferis (13)
Silvester Tan (5) 1UP over Riley Schafer (12)
Liam Sullivan (11) 6&4 over Declan Hoskin (6)
Ryan Gault (7) defeated Ollie Marsh (10) at 19th hole
Adam Baillie (8) 1UP over Stephen Lord (9)
Quarter finals (seedings in brackets)
Adam Baillie (8) 6&5 over Luke Kidd (1)
Connor Fewkes (2) 6&5 over Ryan Gault (7)
Silvester Tan (5) 3&2 over Jakeb Dunkley (4)
Liam Sullivan 2&1 over George Barclay (3)
Semi-final draw
Connor Fewkes vs Liam Sullivan
Silvester Tan vs Adam Baillie
View full scores from the men’s and women’s match play draw here.
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