The last major event of the US summer, the Men’sUS Amateur is currently being contested. Below is a wrap up of the last month s results.
Porter Cup
Callan O Reilly was the only NSW player to compete in the Porter Cup. With rounds of 68, 71, 71, 72 (+2), Callan finished in a tie for 29th. The leading Australian player was Brady Watt from Western Australian with scores of 70, 65, 66, 69 (-10) to finish in a tie for 3rd. For a full story and scores go to: www.portercup.com/
Women’s Canadian Amateur
Cathleen Santoso and Carly Beck both competed in the Women’s Canadian Amateur. With rounds of 77, 72, 74, 77 (+16). Cathleen placed tied 31st and tied with Jayde Panos for the best placed Australian players, while Carly Beck with rounds of 76, 82 missed the 36 hole cut. For a full field scores [Click Here].
Western Amateur
I was very fortunate to have the experience of attending this event. The event was held at The Alotian Club just outside of Little Rock, Arkansas. The Alotian Club is privately owned by billionaire investment banker Warren Stephens. Stephens is the son of former Augusta National Chairman Jack Stephens. The course was presented in amazing condition. The course is very undulating with significant elevation changes on many of tee and approach shots. The fairways were relatively generous in width. The challenge was getting your approach shots into the right section of the greens, as they were quite large with many undulations and tiers. The greens were of a medium to fast pace. Around the greens was also quite a challenge with the zoysia grass rough. The course has many amazing vistas of the surrounding waterways and native bush landscape. The event is gruelling test of 72 holes stroke play (cut low 44 +ties) followed by the top 16 players qualifying for the match play section. In total ten Australians competed in the event with four being from NSW. Brett Drewitt (Long Reef) finished the best placed Australian after 72 holes with scores of 69, 74, 70, 73 (-2) and a tie T27. Unfortunately the remaining three NSW players Jordan Zunic (75, 72), Ruben Sondjaja (75, 77) and Ricky Kato (82, 85) missed the 36 hole cut. For more information about the Western Amateur, [Click Here]
Men’sUS Amateur
The men’s US Amateur is being held at Brookline Country Club in Boston. The Championship is currently under way with the 36 hole stroke play qualifying rounds being completed. Brett Drewitt, Jordan Zunic and Will Flitcroft were the three NSW players to qualify for this year s amateur. Unfortunately due to injuries sustained in a car accident in Little Rock Arkansas Jordan Zunic had to withdraw from the event prior to its commencement. For more on Jordan s accident and US Amateur withdrawal, [Click Here]. Brett Drewitt struggled with his ball striking during the event which found him in the punishing Brookline rough too often. Unfortunately Brett missed qualifying for the match play section with scores of 75, 77 (+12). Will Flitcroft (Royal Sydney) who is a soon to be sophomore student athlete at California State University Chico fired back to back scores of 69 in qualifying to finish in a three way tie for 2nd. He grabbed one of the qualifying spots when he parred the first hole in the playoff. Will no doubt gained valuable experience playing in the amateur but missed getting into the match play with back to back rounds of 80. Follow Will s college progress at the Chico State Wildcats through the website: [Click here]. Brady Watt has continued his solid form during his US campaign to be equal leading qualifier with scores of 68, 66 (-6). Brady tied with Englishman Neil Raymond who has been a frequent visited to NSW and former winner of the NSW medal. Joining Brady in the match play section will be Oliver Goss (T3) and Nathan Holman (T17) who also got through the 36 hole qualifying. All three players won their round of 64 matches to move through to the round of 32. Brady defeated Texan Sean Walsh 5 & 3, Nathan defeated Andrew Price from Illinois 3 & 2 and Oliver Goss had the closest match defeating Toni Hakula from Finland 1 up, coming from 2 down after 14. Follow their progress: [Click Here]