A team of six Victorian players will head to the 2013 British Amateur in South Wales next month to compete for one of the most prestigious events in Women’s Amateur golf. The players are being supported by the Victorian Golf Foundation and Golf Victoria in an initiative to increase the opportunities available to Victorian elite female golfers.
Including five out of the six victorious 2013 Women’s State Team, the players are looking forward to the opportunity of competing against the best women amateurs in the world.
Golf Victoria CEO, Simon Brookhouse stated, “It will be a fantastic experience for our elite female golfers to compete on the world stage. The experience is invaluable and allows our players to understand the demands mentally and physically of a professional athlete.”
The team includes VIS scholarship holder Grace Lennon, who was the leading amateur at the 2013 Victorian Open and Australia’s number one ranked female player Su-Hyun Oh. Lennon and Oh were members of the recent Queen Sirikit Cup winning Australian team. 2013 Junior State Team Captain, Bianca Ling; Victorian Women’s State Team Captain, Jo Charlton; Metropolitan’s Grace Daniell and 15-year-old Julienne Soo, already a three-time State representative will join Lennon and Oh for the innovative trip.
The 111th staging of the Ladies’ British Amateur Championship will be played from June 11-15 at a new Ladies’ Golf Union venue – the Jack Nicklaus-designed Machynys Peninsula Golf & Country Club, near Llanelli in South Wales. The composite course to be used for the LGU’s flagship amateur event will come in at 6,290 yards, a little longer than when the four Ladies European Tour events were played at Machynys and Kirsty Taylor set the women’s professional course record of 61.
On paper, the standard of competitors for the Ladies’ British Open Amateur Championship is extremely strong. To participate in next month’s field, capped at 144, a player must have a handicap of at least +0.2.
The winner who steps up to receive the magnificent trophy on June 15 will also earn a place in the starting fields at this year’s Ricoh Women’s British Open over the Old Course, St Andrews, the US Women’s Open and the Evian Championship – if the player is still an amateur when the relevant events are played.
After two rounds of stroke play, the 64 players with the lowest aggregates will progress to the matchplay stages.
The 2013 Victorian Ladies British Amateur Representatives:
| Name |
Home Club |
Age |
| Grace Daniell | Metropolitan | 22 |
| Jo Charlton | Metropolitan | 23 |
| Bianca Ling | Kingswood | 17 |
| Grace Lennon | Kingston Heath | 20 |
| Su-Hyun Oh | Metropolitan | 16 |
| Julienne Soo | Woodlands | 15 |
The team will be managed by Golf Victoria High Performance and Commercial Operations Manager, John Anderson.