Australian Men&aposs Amateur Championship presented by Audi – Final New Zealand 19 year-old Tae Koh clinched the first major win of his amateur career on his first trip to Australia with a resounding 6&5 win over Western Australian Curtis Luck at The Australian Amateur Championship presented by Audi at The Grange Golf Club in Adelaide. The Manukau Golf Club member and World Number 275 led 4up after the first 18 holes and said he was overwhelmed to clinch victory. “It feels great obviously. Winning 6&5 was a pretty good effort I thought. I thought it was going to be a pretty tough match. You play pretty good players. To do it in that fashion is awesome,” Koh said. In doing so, Koh becomes the first New Zealand man to win the title since former U.S Open champion Michael Campbell did in 1992. Koh also earns an exemption into the Emirates Australian Open at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney later this year. “That s big Michael Campbell won a major and was a great player. Hopefully I can follow in his footsteps. The Australian Open wow. Big crowds, I ll have to get used to that. Hopefully I get to play with some good pros and see what they do,” Koh said. Born in Korea, Koh moved to New Zealand at the age of six and began playing golf when he was seven after caddying for this father. He stopped playing golf for four years in his early teens to pursue cricket and soccer before returning to the golf course four and half years ago. For Luck, from Cottesloe Golf Club, it was the end of a solid week and continues his good form in 2014 following his win at the Boys&apos Victorian Junior Masters earlier in January. Final – Tae Koh (NZ) defeated Curtis Luck (WA) 6&5 Click Here for Hole-by-Hole Scores Australian Women&aposs Amateur Championship presented by Audi – Final Western Australian Minjee Lee has successfully defended her Australian Amateur Championship crown after defeating 15 year-old Queenslander Karis Davidson 6&5 in today&aposs final at The Grange Golf Club. World Number 5 and 17 year-old Lee led 2up after the first 18 holes with the pair putting on a birdie blitz in the morning. Davidson birdied three of her first five holes and took the challenge up to Lee before the Royal Fremantle member rolled off four straight birdies on holes 5-8 in the afternoon round to surge clear. “It feels good. It&aposs always a long week at the Australian Amateur and it&aposs good to get the win and start the year off on a high,” Lee said. “I was just steady today. Whenever Karis made mistakes, I just took advantage of that. After that I holed a couple of putts early on the front nine in the second round and I got to 6 or 7up,” said Lee who earns a place at the ISPS Handa Women&aposs Australian Open next month. Lee, who graduated from school in 2013, has now won two Australian Amateur titles, the Australian Junior title and the US Girls&apos Junior title among a host of other victories. “I don&apost have school this year so I&aposm going to play all of the Aussie professional circuit events and then go to China for the World Ladies Championship. After that I think I&aposll head to the United States for the U.S Women&aposs Amateur and play a couple of other big events over there,” Lee said. Fellow National Squad member Ryan Ruffels caddied for Lee for the semi final and final. The pair teamed up for Lee&aposs Australian Amateur victory in 2013 in Melbourne. “He&aposs good company, we had fun out there and it was pretty cruisey,” Lee added. Final – Minjee Lee (WA) defeated Karis Davidson (QLD) 6&5 Click Here for Hole-by-Hole Scores
Author: Golf Australia