Gregory Foo from Singapore has won the 2015 Men’s Port Phillip Amateur while Coolangatta’s Rebecca Kay has taken out the Women’s Port Phillip Amateur following the final 36-holes played at the Kingston Heath Golf Club on Sunday 13 December.
A member of the Singaporean National Squad, Foo came home with a final round of 71 for a four round total of 286 to win the men’s title by a solitary stroke from Sandhurst’s Brett Coletta. Trailing overnight leader Coletta by a stroke after the opening 36-holes, Foo gained the ascendancy with a superb three-under par morning round of 69.
In a high quality battle during the afternoon, matching one-under par closing rounds saw 22-year-old Foo hold on to outlast the Australian National Squad member for his first major foreign title.
The Women’s title saw Australian Junior Squad member, Kay play superb golf over the final day. After rounds of 79 and 77 at Commonwealth, the 16-year-old from Queensland followed a morning even-par round of 73 with a one-under 72 to finish on a four round total of 301.
Leading amateur at this year’s Australian Ladies Masters, Kay won the women’s title by two-strokes from Amanda Tan from Singapore who closed with a 75 for a 72-hole total of 303. Kingston Heath’s Dayle Marshall finished in third position on 306 after closing with an even-par 73.
After the cool and windy conditions over the opening two rounds of the Championship, a perfect Melbourne summer’s day greeted players for the final 36-holes at Kingston Heath, creating good scoring opportunities for the 59 men and 23 women who qualified from the opening two rounds played at Commonwealth on Friday and Saturday.
While a moderate southerly breeze came up during the afternoon, clear skies and warm temperatures made for ideal playing conditions.
Following the appreciated support of the Commonwealth and Kingston Heath Golf Clubs, the qualifying rounds of the Victorian Amateur have been held in conjunction with the Port Phillip Amateur from 2008 for the men and from 2012 for the women.
The leading 32 men with 72-hole scores of 303 or better and the leading 16 women with 72-hole scores of 319 or better following the completion of the Port Phillip Amateur now progress to the match play rounds of the Victorian Amateur Championship which will also be played at Kingston Heath and Commonwealth.
A play-off was needed to decide the final three qualifying positions for the men between four players tied on 303. Tim Hardham, Mark Boulton and Tony Lee were the successful player following a sudden-death play-off with Markopolo Fullep. The match play rounds will begin at the Commonwealth Golf Club from 7.30am on Monday 14 December culminating in the 36-hole Men’s and Women’s finals on Wednesday 16 December.
The Men’s Port Phillip Amateur commenced in 1976 and has been played annually over that time at Kingston Heath and Commonwealth within Melbourne’s Sand Belt. The 72-hole Championship boasts former winners such as Mike Clayton (1977 & 1980), Brad Hughes (1987 & 1988), Craig Spence (1994), Stephen Allan (1995) and Scott Gardiner (1999).
The Women’s Port Phillip Amateur commenced in 2012 with Metropolitan’s Su-Hyun Oh winning in both 2012 and 2013 with talented youngster Shelly Shin from NSW victorious in 2014.
Final results for the 2015 Port Phillip Open Amateur can be found via the following links:
2015 Men's Port Phillip Amateur – Final Results
2015 Women's Port Phillip Amateur – Final Results
The draws for 1st Round Matches at the 2015 Men’s and Women’s Victorian Amateur Championships can be found via the following links: