The Labour Day long weekend saw the hosting of two major events on the 2013 Ivo Whitton and Champions Trophy Program – The Riversdale Cup and the inaugural Monash Cup/Joan Fisher Plate.
One of Australia’s oldest amateur events, the Men’s and Women’s Riversdale Cup, was for the first time played simultaneously in 2013 with a starting field of 120 men and 48 women from all over Australia and New Zealand at Riversdale Golf Course.
World No. 2 ranked amateur Brady Watt from Western Australia (Royal Perth G.C) took out the Men’s title by three shots with a four round total of 282. Watt held off joint second place getters Ruben Sondjaja (Bonnie Doon G.C) and Brett Drewitt (Long Reef G.C) who scored 285 each over the four days.
In the Women’s event, it was 2013 Vic Open leading amateur Grace Lennon from Victoria (Kingston Heath G.C) that stormed home with a three-under 69 for a 72-hole total of 295 to win the Women’s Championship over fellow Victorian Su-Hyun Oh (296) by a single shot.
Meanwhile, the winner of the inaugural Monash Cup held at Metropolitan and Huntingdale Golf Clubs was Daniel Ong. In extreme weather conditions, Ong drank an average of a litre of water every four holes to avoid the heat stress of a sunny 38 degree day.
The exciting new event saw the Men’s and Women’s title played simultaneously with the morning round contested at Huntingdale while the second and final round was played next door at Metropolitan Golf Club for the 36-hole stroke title.
Ong, a +2 marker from Kingston Heath won with a score of 142 – two under par over the 36 hole tournament. Ong fired an opening round four under-par 69 at Huntingdale before closing with a steady one-over par 73 to take home the maiden title. Metropolitan member Blake Collyer and Huntingdale’s Greg Jackson finished 3 shots adrift on a two round total of 145.
Sir John Monash was acknowledged as a significant Australian in the presentations who was a member at The Metropolitan Golf Club in the 1920’s. Monash’s achievements included being Commander of the Australian Imperial Forces and master tactician, Commissioner for the State Electricity Commission and large contributions to public life.
The concurrent Joan Fisher Plate was won by Jessica Dengate from Sandhurst Golf Club with a score of 153 after rounds of 76 and 77. The scratch marker finished a barnstorming 14 shots clear of her Sandhurst compatriot, Adele Huggard and Kristen Farmer (Commonwealth G.C) – both tied second on 167. Michelle Hui (Metropolitan G.C) was next best, one shot back in third place.
The Joan Fisher Plate in its 25th year was named in recognition of Joan Fisher, one of Australia’s greatest amateur golfers with a competitive State and National representative career spanning over 30 years.
Golf Victoria’s Chief Operating Officer, David Greenhill highlighted the need for events like the Riversdale Cup, Joan Fisher Plate and newly introduced Monash Cup to foster the development of Australia’s leading amateurs.
“High quality competition is essential to the development of Australia’s talented amateurs and in Victoria we’re fortunate to have a number of clubs that provide such events.
“The Riversdale Cup has been played for over 100 years and it’s also been great to see Metropolitan and Huntingdale join forces to present a 36-hole event this year for both men and women,” said Greenhill.