New South Wales has ruled the roost in the 2015 Australian Amateur Ranking System results.
Sydney’s Cam Davis and Shelly Shin, who has recently returned with her family to Korea, were the top performers in some hotly contested races.
The system rewards the best performed and most consistent amateur players through 70 ranking events across Australia in the past 12 months – and hot starts by Davis and Shin proved critical.
Davis topped the men’s standings after a stellar year with wins in the Australian Men’s Amateur, Victorian Amateur, NSW Medal as well as top-five finishes in several other events including the Lake Macquarie Amateur and Victorian Medal.
Shin won the women’s rankings courtesy of wins in the Australian Women’s Amateur, Lake Macquarie Amateur and Victorian Amateur along with top-three finishes in the NSW Medal, Dunes Medal and WA 72 Hole Stroke Play championships.
National Squad member Ryan Ruffels, of Victoria, won the boys’ rankings after another year of top performances including winning the Australian Boys’ Amateur, finishing runner-up in the Australian Amateur Medal, fourth in the Riversdale Cup and third in the Victorian Open.
Celina Yuan, also of NSW, topped the girls’ rankings after a year of outstanding performances including winning the Australian Girls’ Amateur, Jack Newton International Classic, Victorian Junior Amateur and South Pacific Ladies’ Open.
The Men’s Senior Rankings, for players aged 55 years and over, was sealed by Greg Rhodes (Vic) who dominated with wins in the Australian Men’s Senior Amateur, NSW Men’s Senior Amateur, SA Secondary Senior and a second-place finish in the Royal Melbourne Senior Classic.
In the Women’s Senior Rankings, Jacqui Morgan (NSW) secured top honours for the second year running after being top qualifier at the Australian Women’s Senior Amateur and winner of the Tasmanian Women’s Senior Amateur, NSW Women’s Senior Amateur, Queensland Women’s Senior Amateur and NT Senior Amateur.
The ranking events attracted more than 3900 players from around Australia and the world, with the Ranking System continuing to provide vast interest for golfers of all ages and genders.
The Australian Amateur Ranking System provides players, as well as the industry, the opportunity to monitor player movements based on results from particular events across the peak of amateur golf in Australia.
Golf Australia's high performance program uses the rankings (along with other ranking systems) as a tool, not a benchmark, when selecting teams/squads for national or international competition.
The Australian Amateur Championship, as well as other prominent national golf championships, uses the rankings as an entry criterion for their events.
Each system is points-based and operates over a 12-month rolling period. All national championships and each state’s amateur championship in the respective systems count towards a player’s average, in addition to various other major events.
Players’ points are determined by their finishing positions in each event and the events themselves are weighted according to the field strength.
Summary:
Men’s Rankings:
1. Cameron Davis (NSW) 132.93
2. Ben Eccles (Vic) 111.75
3. Jake McLeod (Qld) 105.38
Women’s Rankings:
1. Shelly Shin (NSW) 148.35
2. Hannah Green (WA) 139.77
3. Hayley Bettencourt (WA) 131.01
Boys’ Rankings:
1. Ryan Ruffels (Vic) 126.15
2. Minwoo Lee (WA) 107.70
3. Fred Lee (WA) 103.98
Girls’ Rankings:
1. Celina Yuan (NSW) 157.64
2. Karis Davidson (Qld) 146.05
3. Shelly Shin (NSW) 142.27
Senior Men’s Rankings:
1. Greg Rhodes (Vic) 122.43
2. Gordon Claney (Vic) 98.99
3. Stefan Albinski (NSW) 95.89
Senior Women’s Rankings:
1. Jacqui Morgan (NSW) 232.75
2. Nikki Haines (NSW) 141.08
3. Josie Ryan (Qld) 139.75
Further information: http://www.golf.org.au/player-rankings