GolfWA High Performance athletes Amie Phobubpa and Spencer Harrison achieved significant victories in the Sebel Mandurah Amateur Open.
Joondalup Country Club’s Phobubpa held off the challenge of NSW talent Yerin Kim to record a famous victory to give her a biggest title since her WA Women’s Amateur Championship win of 2021.
Phobubpa led the field by three going into the final round and maintained a healthy advantage moving into the back nine before Kim kicked up a gear and threatened an upset.
Birdies on 10, 11 and 17 – allied with dropped shots for Phobubpa on 12 and 17 – moved Kim to within a shot of her rival on the 18th tee. However, a grandstand finish eluded her, as she dropped a shot at the last while Phobubpa made a solid par to secure a two-shot victory at +4 for the championship.
Twenty-year-old Phobubpa expressed relief at landing the most significant stroke play title of her career after struggling to consistently find her A-Game in recent seasons.
“It’s been a tough run over the past couple of years,” she told GolfWA. “I’ve been playing well, just not scoring as well as I’d have liked, but my ball-striking was good this week and I hold a fair number of putts to keep the momentum.
“This result is great for my motivation. I’ve been working so hard with (coach) Alex McKay and I’m really pleased my game’s heading in the right direction again.”
Amie Phobubpa’s Mandurah Am win is the biggest stroke play title of her career
Royal Fremantle’s Abbie Teasdale fired a best-of-the-week 67 in her fin a round to take outright third two shots behind Kim, with Mount Lawley’s Erina Tan a further stroke adrift in fourth.
There were also top 10 finishes for Ruby Cotton (Mount Lawley), Saehi Suh (Gosnells), Aileen Sirait (Gosnells) and Heejoo Cho (Royal Fremantle. View the final women’s leaderboard here.
Harrison bandwagon rolls on
It’s fair to say 2024 has been a good year for Royal Perth’s Spencer Harrison. The 16-year-old was runner-up in the WA Men’s Amateur Championship before winning the State Boys Championship in July right after making his Australian international debut.
An open-age ranking title was all that was missing from his resumé, and Harrison put that to rights in fine style at Mandurah Country Club.
Starting the final round three adrift of Bunbury GC’s Bailey Hampson, Harrison was consistency personified over the front nine as he fired nine consecutive pars to remain very much in the mix.
As Hampson’s challenge faded, Josiah Edwards (Gosnells) became the front runner at -1 under for the championship courtesy of a brilliant eagle on the par-five 9th.
The back nine became a battle of attrition as the lead exchanged hands several times and Harrison appeared to have played himself out of contention after dropping four shots between holes 10 and 13.
A birdie on the par-five 14th moved Harrison back to within two strokes behind Edwards, Ollie Marsh (Wanneroo) and Simon Liddell (Lake Karrinyup), but he turned the tables on them all as clutch birdies at the two closing holes propelled him to the top of the leaderboard as his rivals dropped shots all around him.
Playing partner Liddell bogeyed the final two holes to see a two-shot lead become a two-shot deficit, while Marsh and Edwards were both one-over for their final two holes to grant Harrison a two-stroke win at +2 for the championship.
Spencer Harrison is enjoying a vintage 2024
“I’m super happy with how I went this weekend,” a delighted Harrison told GolfWA. “I had quite an annoying start to the final round with a lot of putts just sliding past, but to be able to fight it back and go three-under for my last five to get over the line means a lot to me – especially as it’s my first WAGR and open-age win.”
The fiercely contested men’s event also saw top-10 finishes for WA state players Connor Fewkes (Mount Lawley), Tom Addy (Joondalup CC) and Michael Hanrahan Smith (Cottesloe), as well as rising junior talent Liam Sullivan (The Vines). View the final men’s leaderboard here.
In related news, both Harrison and Edwards have been called up to attend a Golf Australia High Performance Junior Training Camp in Melbourne next week.
