GolfWA confirms team for Jack Newton International Junior Classic

22nd Jul 2024

GolfWA Jack Newton Junior Classic

Eight of Western Australia’s brightest prospects will represent GolfWA at the Jack Newton International Junior Classic in NSW this October.

Played at Cypress Lakes Golf Club, the annual Classic is one of the biggest events of the year on the Golf Australia Junior Order of Merit and carries a considerable WAGR weighting due to the strength of the home-based and international players competing.

GolfWA will be represented by four golfers in each of the girls’ and boys’ categories, with five established state players joined by three first-time call-ups.

The boys’ team is spearheaded by state junior captain Josiah Edwards (Gosnells GC) and Spencer Harrison (Royal Perth), both of whom made their Australian international debuts in the USA at the start of July.

Both also competed for WA in the Junior Interstate Teams Matches in April, while Harrison scored a breakthrough victory in the Drummond Golf Junior Amateur Championships of WA a fortnight ago.

Declan Pereira (The Vines) – who Harrison pipped to the State Junior title – is selected to represent GolfWA for the first time following an excellent 12 months that saw him win the Drummond Golf 54-Hole Junior Classic last October and the Nedlands Junior Masters in March.

The Vines’ Liam Sullivan will tee it up in GolfWA colours for the first time at Cypress Lakes

The final member of the quartet is Liam Sullivan (The Vines), who earned his selection after a strong run of results this winter, including T9th at the Queensland Junior Amateur and consecutive top fives at the Cobra Puma and Drummond Golf Junior Amateur.

Both the new caps expressed their delight at being selected amidst such hot competition for spaces, with Pereira saying: “I’m greatly honoured and very appreciative that I’ve been selected to represent GolfWA.”

“I wasn’t expecting to get picked but was so excited when I found out,” Sullivan added. “I can’t wait to play this event and hope to do GolfWA proud.”

For the girls, Isabella Leniartek (Mount Lawley GC) headlines after a stellar six months that have seen her win all her matches at both the junior and open-age Interstate Teams Matches, as well as landing individual titles at the Nedlands Junior Masters, Cobra Puma Junior and State Junior Amateur.

Gosnells GC team-mates Halia Edwards and Aileen Sirait will represent WA once more after strong debuts in April’s Junior Interstate Teams Matches, while Royal Fremantle’s Heather Grace Ong completes the line-up.

Friends and WA team-mates Halia Edwards and Isabella Leniartek

Ong secured her first WA call-up courtesy of consecutive T3rd and 6th place finishes at the Cobra Puma Junior Championship and State Junior Amateur, while she also captained Royal Fremantle to the Division 1 Girls’ Pennants crown early in 2024.

“I am looking forward to this opportunity to travel with the other talented golfers and hope to expand my learning for the game through this new experience,” Ong told GolfWA.

The Jack Newton International Junior Classic is a 72-hole stroke play championship and will take place at Cypress Lakes from October 1-4. Previous winners include Minjee Lee, Sarah Kemp, Aaron Baddeley and Rachel Hetherington.

Meanwhile, Ruby Cotton (Mount Lawley) and Nate Johnson (Joondalup CC) have been named as the GolfWA representatives at the New Zealand Boys and Girls U-19 Age Group Championship at New Plymouth Golf Club, Taranaki, from September 4-6. The trip is part-subsidised by Nomads Golf Australia.