(28 November 2011 – Sutton Forest, NSW)
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Victoria&aposs Stacey Keating has started the Australian summer of golf in fine fashion, picking up her second win in five days at the Mt Broughton Ladies Classic. After a week of rain the weather gods smiled favourably on the players as they experienced the majestic Mt Broughton Country Club at its finest. The ground staff worked overtime to present the beautiful southern highlands layout in pristine condition and the players were suitably impressed. Keating mastered the conditions best with two rounds of 3-under par 69 to finish two shots ahead of Rachel Bailey and Rebecca Flood, both from NSW.
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Keating started the final round one shot behind Bailey but quickly made up the deficit after a birdie on the 13th hole, her fourth hole of the day. She finished the rest of the back nine with five straight pars. Bailey who started on the 1st hole also played her front nine in 1-under par and her lead was still one shot making the turn.
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At the same time as Keating was moving to 5-under par with a birdie on the 3rd hole, Bailey dropped back to 4-under par with a bogey on the 12th. The young Victorian rammed home the advantage with another birdie at her next hole while Bailey dropped back to 3-under par at the 14th hole. Meanwhile, Flood had started &aposon fire&apos with 5 birdies in 6 holes from the 10th hole but she had started at one over par and was probably too far back to challenge Keating who hadn&apost faltered.
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Keating made her first bogey of the day at the 6th hole (her 15th) and it opened the door for the challengers in Flood and Bailey. However, neither could find the birdies needed to put any real pressure of Keating, who bounced back from the bogey with a birdie the next hole. Two pars to finish and she was comfortably in control to win her second professional tournament.
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After collecting the trophy, she made mention of her first round, saying, "I was pleased with my performance for the two days. My first round in the tough conditions really set it up for a good result. I probably didn&apost make as many putts today but I hit the ball really well."
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She was also full of praise for the course, commenting, "It&aposs a fantastic course and it was in absolutely mint condition considering the weather they&aposve had down this way. I also had great playing partners for two days and that was one of the keys today, I had a lot of fun with Jim, Hans and Ben. It kept me relaxed and I really enjoyed myself."
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Sarah Kemp continued her good form, after two runner up results, finishing in outright fourth at 3-under par, while Karen Pearce and Nikki Garrett were one shot back in a tie for 5th.
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Click here for the final results. Click here for the day 1 photo gallery.