Several of Australia’s brightest rising stars from the eastern states have been confirmed in the field for next week’s Bowra & O’Dea Women’s Classic.
The Western Australian Golf Club hosts the prestigious championship, which is boosted by the presence of Aussie internationals Jazy Roberts (VIC) and Annika Rathbone (NSW), as well as the highly-rated Hannah Reeves (QLD) and Ella Scaysbrook (NSW).
Rathbone and Roberts (above left) earned their first Australia call-up for the Asia-Pacific Women’s Amateur in March and both have a pedigree in this event having finished T2nd and T4th respectively in 2023, also at WAGC. Roberts went on to win the Mandurah Women’s Amateur Open the following week.
Fresh from a run to the final of the Pacific Northwest Women’s Amateur in the USA in July, Reeves will fancy her chances after making a stirring run for the title last year.
Starting the final day 10 strokes off the lead, Reeves closed with a blistering six-under-par 67 to leap into a share of second, just two strokes behind eventual champion Caitlin Peirce of South Australia.
QLD’s Hannah Reeves has been runner-up in this event for the past two years
Scaysbrook, meanwhile, made headlines in March after beating a field of hardened pros to win the Women’s NSW Open regional qualifier at Bathurst Golf Club. She also represented Australia in the IMG Junior World Championships in July.
Other visitors who will hope to do well include Yerin Kim (NSW), who shared 4th place in last year’s event, SA’s Millie Whinney and Tasmanian state representatives Jorjah Bailey and Mackenzie Thomas.
The strong contingent of interstate players makes the event one of the most heavily weighted of the year on WA soil in terms of WAGR ranking points.
The WA players to watch
Although eastern staters dominated the 2023 Bowra & O’Dea 72-Hole Women’s Classic, there are plenty of WA players with the ability to contend at this year’s event.
Having skipped the 2023 event, Royal Fremantle’s Abbie Teasdale will be gunning for a second Bowra title after enjoying a fine victory at the 2022 championship at her home club.
A two-time Australia representative, Teasdale has the game to match anyone in Australia on her day and will be amongst the favourites when play commences on Monday.
Fifteen-year-old Isabella Leniartek will hope to mount a serious challenge in a rare opportunity against interstate opposition. A perennial winner at junior level, the Mount Lawley member knows what it takes to win at WAGC having landed the 2023 Cobra Puma Championship at the club, and will be a player to watch.
Amanda Gan (Mount Lawley) enjoyed a top-10 finish in this event last year and has since gone on to win the WA Women’s Amateur Championship at the same course. She has the game to prosper around WAGC, as does clubmate Ruby Cotton, who was runner-up to Gan at the state amateur.
State stalwarts Erina Tan (Mount Lawley) and Amie Phobubpa (Joondalup CC) also have the capacity to go low and look well placed to be in the mix come the business end of proceedings.
Last but not least, it will be interesting to see Sheridan Clancy back in action on WA soil after two years away in the US college golf system. The Lake Karrinyup member has experience of representing WA at interstate level and played for Scotland in the Girls’ Home Internationals in the UK earlier this month.
The 2024 Bowra & O’Dea Women’s Classic takes place at WAGC from August 26-28. As well as the 72-Hole Women’s Classic, there are concurrent 54-hole Mid-Amateur and Senior competitions. Previous winners include Karrie Webb (1993), Sarah Kemp (2002-04), Hannah Green (2013) and Karis Davidson (2016).
You’ll be able to follow the scoring here, and we’ll be livestreaming some of the final day’s play on Wednesday, August 28.
