On completion of day one of the Australian Amateur Championships at Kooyonga Golf Club in Adelaide, Western Australia has three females in the top ten, and five gents in the top 15. Focussed, determined and dedicated, the thirteen-strong West Aussie contingent are showcasing some serious depth of talent.
Nineteen year old Kirsten Rudgeley continues to prove she is in top form, sitting in second position one shot behind NSW’s Grace Kim. Kirsten, fresh from wins at the Port Phillip Open, Victorian Amateur, and an outstanding performance in The Player Series, carded a solid 3-under with only one bogey on the first. Rudgeley shared following her first round, “the course is tough, and very long. I really need to think about every shot carefully. You literally need to hit the middle of every green. Tomorrow will be a challenge.”
Mandurah’s Kathryn Norris sits narrowly behind Rudgeley in fifth position, with fifteen year old Sheridan Clancy making her Australian Amateur debut to sit in equal 10th position.
“It was pretty hard mentally going into this competition as my preparation didn’t really go to plan because of the lockdown in WA last week. Once I got on the course though I remembered I had done the preparation in the weeks before and I just played my game. I stumbled when I went from one under to 2 over with a triple but I just had to keep reminding myself bad holes are always going to be there and tomorrow is another day. There is always room for improvement.” shared Clancy.
Echoing Clancy’s positivity and resilience was sixteen year old Tom Addy (pictured). Showing enormous promise today carding a confident 3-under par, Addy shared, “this course is so good, the greens are just slick. It really is one of my favourite courses. Conditions were good in the morning but it certainly started to heat up in the afternoon. Tomorrow I will stick to my game plan and try and hit those drives a little straighter!”
Addy sits in equal fourth position alongside fellow West Australian Haydn Barron. Celebrating his twenty fifth birthday in the opening round, Barron was gifted an eagle on the second keeping him in the top tier in a near faultless round. “very happy with how I played considering it got really hot this afternoon and very firm on the greens. The wind really picked up on my back nine which did make it challenging.”
Josh Greer, Michael Hanrahan-Smith and Adam Brady sit together in equal 15th position after strong rounds of 1-under. Tomorrow will prove to be an exciting display of Australian golfing talent for the fight to make the cut, with some windy, hot conditions putting the players to the test.
