Sydney’s Austin Bautista survived a late scare to defend his Federal Amateur Open title at the weekend.
Bautista had been two clear of recent Keperra Bowl champ Charlie Dann with four holes to play before a wayward drive on the 15th suddenly threw the tournament wide open again.
The resultant double-bogey gave Sunshine Coast ace Dann a share of the lead, but he was unable to capitalise and his bogey on the tough closing hole gave Bautista his second Federal title in succession, albeit much tougher than 2015’s nine-stroke romp.
The Bonnie Doon member paid tribute to his caddie, 2015 Federal club champion Harry Brazil, for minimising the damage on the 15th.
“Harry’s advice calmed a tense moment and got me back in the space I needed to be,” Bautista said.
Young New Zealander Amelia Garvey took out the inaugural Federal Women’s Amateur Championship.
“My first and second rounds were not as strong as I would have liked, but I was able to put together a good stretch of holes through round three,” the 16-year-old said.
Garvey went into the final round with a four-stroke lead, enough for her to take the victory over Grace Kim from Sydney’s Avondale Golf Club.
Winner of the junior girls’ medal was The Australia’s Celina Yuan, while Canberra’s own Joshua Armstrong won the junior boys’ medal.
Full leaderboard: http://www.federalgolf.com.au/cms/federal-amateur-open