Commonwealth’s Cameron John has been crowned the 2017 Victorian Men’s Par 3 champion at Kyabram Parkland.
It was a crisp morning which once again greeted the players, as the sun rose mid-morning the final round was played in ideal scoring conditions topping off what has been the most favourable weather conditions for both men's & women's events in recent memory.
The leading two groups got their rounds underway from the 1st & 18th tees looking to chase down overnight leader Cameron John who sat at even par 108 after two rounds.
John was rock solid over the opening nine holes, heading out in one over par 28 to maintain his overnight three stroke lead over fellow state team member Matias Sanchez (Royal Melbourne).
Sanchez came unstuck on the 13th with a double bogey 5, which opened up a four stroke lead with five to play for John & the current Australian Junior champion was never headed from there securing a two shot win.
John continued a recent dominance of the men’s event by Commonwealth members, with three of the past four winners representing the South Oakleigh club including Craig Hasthorpe (2015) & Zach Murray (2014). Unfortunately for Sanchez, the current Australian Amateur champion was consigned to a runner-up finish for a third time, having finished runner-up to both Hasthorpe & Murray.
Ray Walker (Chirnside Park) stormed home in the A-grade men’s nett event, with two rounds of nett 54 & nett 55 over the final 36-holes from a daily handicap of 1 to pip former par-3 champion Nathan Schneider by two strokes with a total of 170.
Cooper Gentle (Kyabram Parkland) dominated the B-grade event from start to finish. Gentle secured a five-shot win in the gross championship over Mooroopna’s Glenn Cartwright. Nathan Richards (Rich River) took home the nett event with a three-round nett total of 166 from a daily handicap of 5.
The C-grade gross event was taken home by Kyabram local Wayne Ferguson who fired a three-round total of 202 to narrowly edge Trafalgar’s George Petkovic by one stroke. The C-grade nett event was won by another Kyabram local Paul McIness via way of countback on a nett score of 163.
To conclude this year’s event, 10 players gathered on the 18th for a nearest the pin shootout for a set of car tyres donated by Kyabram Tyre Service. Geir Brekke from Kew took home the prize after finishing closest to the hole.
A big thank you to Kyabram Parkland for their assistance in hosting the championship once again and to the Kyabram Club for their major sponsorship. The club is to be commended on the wonderful hospitality provided to all players and guests over the course of the week.
Next year’s championship will be held again at Kyabram Parkland on June 9 & 10.
To view final leaderboards in all three grades & photo gallery, click here.
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