Wanneroo Golf Club member Ollie Marsh won the Terry Gale Cup for low amateur at the Bowra & O’Dea Nexus Advisernet WA Open.
The 16-year-old bested Royal Fremantle’s Zach Capelli in a playoff in atrocious conditions at a wet and blustery Mandurah Country Club.
Capelli closed with an impressive four-under-par 67 to make up a two-shot deficit to Marsh, with the pair tying for 25th place overall at eight-under for the championship.
However, by the time the extra holes were started, on-course conditions were so bad that play was suspended twice, drawing out the three-hole playoff to an hour’s duration that tested each player’s mental fortitude.
After halving the 10th and 8th holes with par threes, an errant drive from Capelli on the par-five ninth proved decisive. Finding trouble in the trees right of the fairway, Capelli scuttled a recovery attempt across the fairway into more trees before leaving his approach to the green short and right.
An errant drive on the third playoff hole proved costly for Zach Capelli
Marsh, meanwhile, was safely on in three and when Capelli – cheered on by good friend Min Woo Lee – failed to get up and down for par, Marsh had with a simple two-putt to secure the coveted low amateur prize.
“I’m just really happy to win the low amateur,” Marsh told GolfWA. “There’s a lot of good names on it, so to be part of that, I’m really honoured.”
After an uneventful first half of 2024, Marsh spent two months playing in Britain during the Perth winter and said the experience helped him immensely during the final day’s torrid conditions.
“The wind’s been pretty calm all week but then it picked up this final round,” he added. “It definitely took me a few holes to adjust, but playing in the wind and weather (in Britain) helped me adjust faster. Just knowing that I can shoot scores on different courses in different weather has really boosted my confidence.”
Marsh joins the likes of Stephen Leaney, Brett Rumford, Curtis Luck, Kim Felton and Greg Chalmers in winning the Terry Gale Cup, named in honour of the six-time WA Open champion.
The other amateurs to play all four rounds were Abel Eduard (T44th), Ali Rachid (T44th) and Coby Carruthers (T55th).
View the final leaderboard here.
