Renowned for being one of golf’s most challenging formats, the Foursomes Championships of WA delivered its usual mix of the sublime and the ridiculous at The Vines Golf & Country Club on Sunday.
Scratch pairings struggled – and often failed – to break 80, while unheralded duos made surprise title bids at the 36-hole event that ran from dawn to dusk, with the final groups holing their last putts well after the sun had dipped below the horizon.
With par equalled only once in the 102 rounds played on the day, steady rather than spectacular golf was rewarded, with winning totals of +5 in the men’s event and +9 in the women’s.
Opening with a two-over-par 74 in Round 1, Sophie Williams (Mount Lawley) and Amie Phobubpa (Joondalup CC) held a five-stroke lead over the field at the halfway stage of the women’s championship.
The second 18 was a different story, though, with Isabella Leniartek & Celine Chen and Abbie Teasdale & Ruby Cotton finding their groove to pile the pressure on the leaders.
Starting Round 2 six and eight strokes back respectively, both pairings edged into contention courtesy of solid golf of their own allied with Williams’ and Phobubpa’s struggles.
The leaders were six over for their opening nine in Round 2, leaving the door ajar for their challengers. And while they steadied the ship on the inward half, three dropped shots on 16 and 17 left them just a stroke ahead of clubhouse leaders Leniartek & Chen.
A gritty par at the last was enough to get Williams and Phobubpa over the line by the narrowest of margins, while playing partners Cotton and Teasdale claimed third, two strokes adrift.
Amie Phobubpa and Sophie Williams held on to clinch a one-stroke win in the women’s event
It marked the second consecutive win in the event for Williams, who partnered Gosnells’ Sasha Hofman to the title in 2023. She was quick to praise Phobubpa’s contribution to her successful defence.
“Amie was the putting queen in this morning’s round. She holed some absolute bombs, so that was exciting!” Williams told GolfWA. “We thought we might have given it away over the last three holes, but we managed to finish with a solid par to get the job done.”
“It’s a team effort and we both hit the right shots at the right time,” Phobubpa added. “We know each other’s games really well and it was a lot of fun out there today.”
Sullivan and Pereira make most of home advantage
It was a similarly close call in the men’s championship, with home-club favourites Liam Sullivan and Declan Pereira ultimately prevailing by a single stroke.
The rising teenage stars posted an opening 75 to be right in amongst it at the halfway stage and their home-course knowledge proved instrumental as their second-round 74 – which included a closing birdie – gave them an early clubhouse lead.
Playing behind them, joint first-round leaders Damien McDade & Gerardo De Leon (Kwinana) and Wayne Smith & Trafford Wilcox (The Vines) were unable to overhaul the youngsters – although McDade and De Leon gave it a good run, falling just one short after a closing 76.
While Smith and Wilcox fell away, 2023 champions Tom Addy & Lachie Hall (Joondalup CC) closed with a best-of-the-day 72 to claim a share of third with Joseph Buttress & Adam Baillie (The Vines) and Luke & Declan Hoskin (The Vines), two further back.
“We stayed positive the whole day, and didn’t get down even when we made a couple of bad mistakes,” Sullivan told GolfWA. “It’s a long day, so we knew we just had to stay in it and Declan made some great putts to keep us in there.”
Darkness had fallen by the time Pereira and Sullivan were confirmed men’s champions
Pereira and Sullivan have both enjoyed excellent seasons and will represent GolfWA at the Jack Newton International Junior Classic in NSW in October.
View the final leaderboards and all category winners here.
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