South Welshman Matthew Giles has won the 2013 Victorian Open by one stroke at the 13th Beach Golf Links in Barwon Heads on Sunday.
The 23-year-old carded a five-under final round of 67 to finish on 13 under for the tournament and a shot clear of Ryan Lynch and amateur Nathan Holman who ended up equal second on 12 under.
Giles' fourth round was faultless, with birdies coming for him at the 2nd, 10th, 12th, 15th and 18th holes.
Stephen Dartnall and Neven Basic finished the tournament in a tie for fourth position on 11 under while Bradley Hughes, Steven Jones, Aaron Townsend and Leigh McKechnie were all a shot further back on minus 10 in equal sixth spot.
Meanwhile, Stacey Keating (18 under) won the women's event by two strokes ahead of Englishwoman Hannah Burke (16 under) and Kristie Smith (16 under).
The 26-year-old from Cressy, in Victoria’s Western District, said she was thrilled by her success.
“I wanted to play well over the Aussie summer because I hadn’t done that before so I think that I’ve done that now and I’m very pleased,” Keating said.
Keating admitted she felt the weight of expectations to win the tournament from early in the week and, even starting today with a four shot lead, was nervous before she teed off.
Keating’s galleries over the weekend were the biggest of any group out on course and organisers were delighted by the turnout.
“I just thought I would put too much expectations on myself and that was something that I tried to keep down,” Keating said.
“But when you look around and see so many people that you know and want to talk to and I tried my hardest to avoid that, so it means everything this win.
“I was a bit nervous this morning, but it was good nerves. I’m absolutely spent now.”
Keating withstood several challenges throughout the day– particularly from Spain’s Mireia Prat and Queensland’s Bree Arthur – before regaining her ascendancy on the back nine.