Maddy Hinson-Tolchard set records alight over the weekend on her way to becoming the first-ever female winner of the Royal Fremantle Amateur Open.
The Gosnell’s sensation put together a stunning course record opening round of 9-under (64) that was highlighted by a hole in one on the 12th.
Giddy with excitement after her historic round, Hinson-Tolchard said, “I didn’t even see my hole in one go in the hole. I saw Baz, Hayden and Ryan on the next tee box throw their hands up and I was like OMG it went in. I hit 7 iron from 144m straight into the wind and it never left the pin.”
Maddy backed up her brilliant Saturday round with a clinical 1-under performance on Sunday to storm to an 8-shot victory.
Deprived of competitive opportunities over recent months, Hinson-Tolchard has been putting in plenty of time on the range with well-known coach Ritchie Smith.
I have been working with Ritchie a lot lately and have been hitting it well but not scoring great and then all of a sudden I had my lowest competitive round ever,” Hinson-Tolchard said.
It was so crazy that in the end Connor [Fewkes], Josh [Greer] and I were just laughing every time I made a birdie.
Not only a remarkable individual achievement, Hinson-Tolchard’s victory marks a significant milestone in the golf industry’s quest to address a fundamental imbalance in the game and draw more women and girls to golf.
Royal Fremantle Golf Club has been at the forefront of implementing Golf Australia’s Vision 2025 initiative and RFGC General Manager Gavin Burt, was excited to witness the first female winner of the event in club history.
Given the changes the Club made last year with respect to Vision 2025 and gender equality in golf, and then for us to open the field to women this year and be more inclusive it was fantastic to see our first female winner in Maddy,” Burt said.
She is an exceptional talent and her round of 64 on Saturday to set up the win was something very special.
