Spencer Harrison and George Barclay will go head-to-head for the Men’s WA Amateur title on Sunday after impressive performances on a sweltering day at The Western Australian Golf Club.
The teen stars both produced some sensational golf as they serenely progressed through the quarters and semi-finals against high-calibre opponents.
Fifteen-year-old Harrison had already caused a stir by beating top seed Connor Fewkes in the last 16 of the match play yesterday, helped on his way by a red-hot putter and imperious iron play.
The Royal Perth member carried that form into today, first deposing defending champion Ollie Marsh 3&2 in the morning quarter-final before tackling seasoned campaigner Simon Liddell in the afternoon semi.
Liddell is no slouch, as his 5&4 win over Adam Hatch in the quarters proved, but he was simply blown away by his young rival’s blistering start to their semi-final clash.
Harrison made four birdies in a row early on to go six up after six holes. He did not lose a hole until a birdie by Liddell at the 12th and was able to close things out on the 14th green to post a memorable 5&4 win.
Despite arguably achieving the stand-out results of the men’s championship so far, Harrison refused to get ahead of himself and says he’s taking nothing for granted.
“I’m going into tomorrow with no expectations, just trying to do exactly what I’ve done for the last four days,” he told GolfWA. “The putter seems to be working well, so hopefully things will work out well.”
A protege of WA golfing icon Brett Rumford, Harrison added that he hoped his coach would be pleased with his day’s work. “I think he’ll be very happy,” Harrison laughed. “He told me to work out a game plan and I think I’ve done it pretty well!”
Spencer Harrison (left) is congratulated by Simon Liddell at the conclusion of their semi-final
Barclay marches into final
Joondalup Country Club’s Barclay, aged 18, slid quietly into the quarter-finals but announced himself as a genuine title contender in the morning session as he despatched 2023 runner-up Tom Addy – his clubmate and good friend off-course – 5&4 courtesy of some sublime approach play and a bunch of birdies.
His semi-final against Lake Karrinyup’s Ryan Gault was a closer affair but after Gault levelled the match with a fine birdie at the long par-three 11th, his challenge was blunted by errant drives on holes 12-14.
Barclay capitalised to open up a three-hole advantage and despite Gault digging deep to win the 15th, a long birdie putt for Barclay on 16 saw him book his place in the final.
Having never previously passed the WA Amateur quarter-finals, Barclay is in buoyant mood ahead of his clash with Harrison tomorrow.
“I’ve just stuck to my game plan, which is just hit fairways and greens and don’t do anything too outrageous,” he told GolfWA. “I’ve done well at minimising my mistakes and I’m feeling good about my game.”
On his approach to the 36-hole marathon final, Barclay added: “I’m just going to play my own game, try to control what I can control. It should be a lot of fun and hopefully it’ll all fall into place.”
George Barclay produced two statement wins today to reach Sunday’s WA Amateur final
The Men’s WA Amateur Championship final commences on Sunday at 8.30am, with the women’s final following immediately behind at 8.45am. Spectators are welcome to attend.
The women’s final will be contested by Mount Lawley GC duo Amanda Gan and Ruby Cotton. Read the report about the women’s semi-finals here.
The scores from all the match play rounds can be viewed here.
