(Royal Canberra, Australian Capital Territory)
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Tuncurry&aposs Sarah Kemp has taken out the $25,000 ActewAGL Royal Canberra Pro-Am with a superb round of 3-under par on the testing Royal Canberra layout. In extremely hot conditions, Kemp&aposs round of 69 secured her a 2-shot victory over Royal Canberra&aposs own Nikki Campbell and former member of the club Susie Mathews, who both fired 1-under par 71&aposs.
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Kemp, who said at the end of the round that she "loved the course" started on the 10th hole and fired 5 birdies and 2 bogeys in her round of 69. She moved to 1-under with a birdie at the par-3 13th. She then missed a couple of opportunities with three-putts at both the 15th and 16th holes. After reaching the 15th in two, she said, "I had a 50-footer and just missed the birdie putt." Her second three-putt was more costly when she handed back the birdie she made at the 13th with a bogey at 16. However, another superb iron shot to the long par-3 17th saw her move back to 1-under when she sank the putt.
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After a somewhat disappointing par five on the 18th, Kemp quickly made amends when she birdied the par-5 1st to move to 2-under par. Again, she gave one back at the 3rd before back-to-back birdies at 4 and 5 saw her move to a winning score of 3-under par. Four pars to finish was good enough to claim the $3,750.00 first prize cheque. Afterwards, she said, "I played really well. The three-putts were a bit disappointing but overall I played well." She also intimated that the cheque may be enough to "do some shopping with."
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Mathews, a member at Royal Canberra when she worked in Canberra before moving back to Adelaide, played in the morning field and posted what many thought would be a good enough score to win. With the wind in the afternoon starting to &aposhowl&apos and the greens getting considerably firmer, the conditions were getting more difficult by the hour. And that is without mentioning the sweltering heat that has plagued Canberra in the past two days.
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The conditions saw pars become a premium in the afternoon, which local girl and LPGA of Japan star Nikki Campbell, certainly achieved. She played the front nine with 8 pars and a birdie to make the turn in 1-under par. A bogey on the 10th saw her move back to even par, before seven straight pars put paid to her challenge. She made a birdie on the 18th, to finish on a score of 1-under par to tie with Mathews for the runner-up position. Later she said, "I felt the pressure playing in front of family and friends. Unfortunately I didn&apost play too good but I had a good day."