A whirlwind day opens the door at the Boys & Girls Championships

Round 3 – A whirlwind day opens the door at the Boys & Girls Championships

A calm and patience mindset was needed for Round 3 as players faced the toughest conditions of the tournament yet. With many holes down or into the wind it was a day to seize opportunities when presented, and to limit mistakes on the more challenging holes.

Victorian State Team player and overnight leader Alizza Hetherington hit the ground running during the early stages of moving day (Round 3), opening a seven shot buffer on the girls field as she birdied two of her first three holes. The tide switched a little as the leading girls group finished their opening nine as Alizza bogeyed then double bogeyed her 7^th and 8^th holes, and Celina Yuan birding her 6^th and 9^th holes to move within 2 shots. The trend continued on the back nine with many of the leading girls finding some trouble as they stumbled towards the finishing line of Round 3. After the lead changed multiple times on the back nine Alizza was able to hold her slim lead heading into the final day one shot ahead of Celina.

Overnight leaders Phoenix and Konrad came back to the boys field today after rounds they would probably like to forget. Both players are still capable and well within reach of the title as the boys field bunches up for a thrilling Round 4 and finish to the championship. Isaac Noh (The Australian GC) showed us some of his brilliance today with an impressive round of 71 to joint lead the boys field into the last round. With fellow Australian Golf Club member Thomas Heaton also at the top at +6 and Jackson Kalz (Glenelg GC) not far behind at +8 it is a leaderboard topped with interstate players. With a huge bunch of Victorian players lurking behind in a pack that makes up 7 other players, the 4 shot deficit between these players and the leaders can easily be made up tomorrow.

Click here for all results and Round 4 draw

Click here to watch all the action tomorrow as the Victorian Boys & Girls Championships go live

Round 2 – Tight Kontest at the Boys & Girls

Konrad, Phoenix and Alizza top the leaderboards at the conclusion of round 2 at the Victorian Boys and Girls Championships. A wet and wild Wednesday was forecast to greet players on day 2 but after some early but manageable showers the conditions cleared and became ideal for low scoring. Without the northerly breeze players faced in day 1 to contend with, we saw a vast improvement in scores from players across the board.

In the boys field we have both Konrad Ciupek (Victoria GC) and Phoenix Campbell (Huntingdale GC) joint leaders with tournament totals of +3. Konrad followed up his round of 75 yesterday with a 72 today, and overnight leader Phoenix Campbell impressed again with a 74 to follow his 73 from yesterday. Liam Georgiadis (Grange GC) who also held the lead overnight is still in the contest sitting at a tournament total of +6, but it was hard to go past the big mover of the day in Toby Walker (Heidelberg GC) with a superb round of 70 and keeping himself well in sight of the leaders.

In the girls field the overnight leader Alizza Hetherington (Royal Melbourne GC) held strong on day 2 with a solid round of 72 to sit at a tournament total of +2. Alizza started slowly with two bogeys in her first four holes but quickly managed to find some form birding her 7th and 8th holes to open with 36. With a similar scenario on her back nine she still finds herself a top of the leaderboard by 2 shots. Hot on her heels is Alex Hilliard (Commonwealth GC) who was delighted with her round of 71 which included three birdies in her last six holes and an impressive holed bunker shot on the 5th hole. Celina Yuan (The Australian GC) and Alice Fan (Riversdale GC) are also within reaching distance of Alizza with tournament totals of +5.

Click here to view all results and the round 3 draw

Round 1 – The calm before the storm at Yarra Yarra

The first round of the 2016 Victorian Boys and Girls Championship kicked off this morning at the prestigious Yarra Yarra Golf Club with a record breaking 126 boys and 41 girls taking to the course. Gusty winds tormented players all day before finally easing late in the piece – making good scoring quite problematic.

South Australia’s Liam Georgiadis and Victoria’s very own Phoenix Campbell are currently tied for the lead in the boys section after the duo signed for rounds of one over-par 73. NSW representative Bradley Doherty along with Patterson River’s Kasey Cathcart trail the overnight frontrunners by a mere shot following rounds of 74 apiece.

Meanwhile in the girls section Alizza Hetherington from Royal Melbourne has hit the ground running in with a fine round of one over 73 in the challenging conditions this afternoon. Hetherington managed to come home with an inward nine of one under which included a birdie at the par 5 18^th hole.

However, both Alice Fan and defending champion Celina Yuan sit just one stroke in arrears of Hetherington and will be keen to make up the deficit come tomorrow morning. A cluster of three players including Victorian Girls captain Alexandra Hilliard, NSW’s June Song, and 14-year-old young gun Kai Shipp fired rounds of 77 today.

Today’s highlight came from Navindu Gunasekera who managed to score his first eagle at the age of just 12 years old! The group was searching for the ball around the greenside before noticing it’s final resting place was in fact at the bottom of the cup.

With thundery and cold weather anticipated tomorrow morning any buffer the leaders currently hold may prove crucial.

Click here for round one scores.