Western Australia has sent a bumper squad of seventeen members to compete in this week’s Australian Amateur, being held at Adelaide’s The Grange Golf Club starting tomorrow.
A total of 288 local and international players will compete for Australia’s oldest golf championship and a place in the respective 2014 Australian Opens.
Qualifying is held over 36-holes with the leading 64 men and 32 women then contesting elimination match play.
World number five and defending Champion Minjee Lee headlines the Western Australian contingent. Lee cruised in last year’s final with a decisive 6&5 victory over South Australia’s Jenny Lee.
Lee, now 17, heads into the event as a strong favourite alongside her Victorian rival Su-Hyun Oh. Ranked second in the world, Oh bested Lee in December’s Victorian Amateur in an epic 34 hole final where Oh prevailed, shooting 17-under par for the day.
Joining Lee as favourites for the Women’s Amateur will be fellow National Squad members Jayde Panos and Hannah Green. Panos is making a rare appearance on home soil after spending the past four years at college with Oklahoma State, while Green will be looking to make amends for the her playoff loss at last week’s Lake Macquarie Amateur where she finished as a runner up to Jenny Lee.
In the Men’s event, expect to see strong showings from Gosnells’ Jarryd Felton and Cottesloe’s Curtis Luck. Felton had a year to remember in 2013, winning the Mandurah Amateur, Queensland Strokeplay and placing third at the Juan Carlos Tailhade in Argentina and will look to the Australian Amateur to build on his impressive resume.
Luck has hit form at the perfect moment, dominating the field at the Victorian Junior Masters last week, running away with a seven stroke victory over the rest of the field.
State and International Teams will contest the Ross Herbert National and International Teams Trophies, played in conjunction with the two qualifying rounds.
The Amateur Championships are Australia’s oldest golfing events, dating back to 1894. Past winners include Michael Clayton, Michael Campbell, Matt Goggin, Brett Rumford, Kristie Smith, and Nikki Campbell, and with both champions receiving exemptions into the Australian Open, they are the most prized titles in Australian amateur golf.
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Tuesday 14 January: Round 1 Qualifying – The Grange Golf Club (East & West Course)
Wednesday 15 January: Round 2 Qualifying – The Grange Golf Club (East & West Course)
Thursday 16 January: Round 1 – Match Play (32 matches) – The Grange Golf Club (East Course)
Friday 17 January: AM: Round 2 – Match Play (16 matches); PM: Round 3 – Match Play (8 matches) – The Grange Golf Club (East Course)
Saturday 18 January: AM: Quarter-Finals (4 matches); PM: Semi-Finals (2 matches) – The Grange Golf Club (East Course)
Sunday 19 January: Final (36-holes) – The Grange Golf Club (East Course)
WA REPRESENTATIVES
Men: Fritz Arnold, Nicholas Curnow, Kiran Day, Jarryd Felton, Minwoo Lee, Curtis Luck, Michael Montgomery, Connor Faulds.
Women: Hayley Bettencourt, Saasha Callaghan, Hannah Green, Alyssa Keir, Minjee Lee, Hira Naveed, Claudia Pisano, Nadine Smith, Tatiana Wijaya.
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