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Commonwealth’s Zach Murray will meet David Micheluzzi from Cranbourne while Victoria’s Stephanie Bunque and Grace Kim from New South Wales will face off in the respective Men’s & Women’s Victorian Amateur Finals to be played at the Commonwealth Golf Club on Wednesday 13 December over 36-holes.
In ideal early Summer conditions with blue skies, warm sunshine and little breeze to speak of on the beautifully presented Commonwealth layout, players enjoyed the pure challenge of the quarter and semi-finals of Victorian golf’s most prestigious amateur titles.
After narrowly accounting for number one seed & newly crowned Men’s Port Phillip Champion Lukas Michel from Metropolitan in their morning quarter final match on the final hole, 2013 Victorian Men’s Amateur Champion Murray powered through his afternoon semi-final match against Kyle Michel. After a bogey on the first to go 1 down, Murray eagled and 2nd and birdied the 3rd to take the lead back in the much anticipated match up. Birdies on 6,8 and 9 to Murray saw him four up at the turn. Not looking like slowing down, Murray won 10 and 12 to finish his match 6/5.
In the second semi-final, Cranbourne’s David Micheluzzi outlasted Andre Lautee (Kingston Heath) in a tough fought battle. The match was evenly poised after 7 holes with both players struggling to gain the upper hand on their opponent. A bogey from Lautee on 8 followed by an impressive birdie on 9 for Micheluzzi saw the momentum swing in favour of the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) squad member. Micheluzzi finished with three consecutive birdies to win 3/2 and set up an all Victorian final tomorrow morning.
Number 1 seed Stephanie Bunque (Victoria) continued her dominate two weeks with another extraordinary performance in the afternoon. Starting with three straight birdies saw Bunque 2up through three holes and with the early momentum on her side. With her length of the tee becoming a factor, Bunque birdied 6 after putting herself to extend the lead to three. Park continued to play great Golf herself but could not match the Port Phillip champion as her approach from 160m on 11 finished within a metre for yet another birdie. The 15th saw the close of the match as Bunque birdied to win her match 4/3 and book herself in the final.
Bunque will play Grace Kim (Avondale) who accounted for fellow New South Wales player Hannah Park. An eagle on the 2nd gave Park an early advantage, but Kim quickly fought back with a birdie on the 4th. Each player was unable to gain a significant advantage as the game never got more than two shots either way. A birdie from Kim on 13 got the game back to all square. Moving on to the 16th all square, Kim would win the next two holes after Park found trouble on both 16 and 17. The 2/1 victory sees Kim advance to the final
The stage is now set for two thrilling 36-hole finals, with both Murray & Micheluzzi looking to build on their impressive amateur records. Bunque will be looking to go one better than her runner-up performance to Western Australian Hannah Green in the 2015 Women’s Final while Grace Kim’s appearance continues the strong recent history of New South Wales women in the event, highlighted by Concord’s Shelly Shin’s victory in 2014.
The 2017 Men’s and Women’s Victorian Amateur Championship finals will commence at 7.30am (Women) and 7.40am (Men) on Wednesday 13 December at Commonwealth. The afternoon rounds are scheduled from 12:30pm.
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