Yarra Yarra’s Andrew Schonewille has won the Men’s title while Su-Hyun Oh from Metropolitan took out the Women’s Championship at the 2013 Port Phillip Amateur following the final 36-holes played at the Kingston Heath Golf Club on Sunday 16 December.
Click here…> for 2013 Men’s Port Phillip Amateur – Final Scores
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Click here…> for 2013 Women’s Port Phillip Amateur – Final Scores
Click here…> for 2013 Women’s Victorian Amateur – Match Play Draw
Originally from the Mornington Peninsula, 21-year-old Schonewille registered his best ever amateur result with a final round of even par 72 for a four round total of 280 to win by a solitary stroke from Lucas Herbert from Commonwealth.
Herbert had earlier climbed the leader board with a third-round 67 to sit just one back from Schonewille heading into the final round, while Kooyonga’s Heath Riches had tallied 215.
With scoring made difficult by a gusty south-westerly wind, Schonewille followed up his stellar morning round of six-under 66 with a solid afternoon round including pars on each of the four challenging closing holes on the renowned Sandbelt layout.
Victorian State player, Todd Sinnott from Metropolitan was outright third on 286 with Compton Pikari from New Zealand; Victoria’s Ryan Ruffels and Commonwealth’s Matt Hinkley finished tied for fourth on 292.
The battle for the Women’s Championship between the two teen prodigies persisted into the final day at Kingston Heath as the pair found themselves tied for the lead at the 54-hole mark of the tournament this morning at a phenomenal 16 under par. Western Australian Lee managed to even out the two shot deficit on the reigning champions after firing a brilliant morning round of seven-under 67 to Oh’s five-under 69.
The afternoon then saw an enthralling shoot-out between the World’s number two and three ranked women’s players. A great front nine of two-under 35 saw Lee open up a three stroke lead over Oh before the current Victorian Women’s champion fought back over the closing six holes.
A birdie at the 271-metre 13th, after almost driving the green, followed by a two at the difficult par-three 15th reduced the deficit to one-stroke. When Lee bogeyed the par four 16th, scores were level before Oh birdied the final two holes to take out her second consecutive Women’s Port Phillip title.
Victorian Women’s State player Julienne Soo from Woodlands finished outright third on 296 with closing rounds of 72 and 71 at Kingston Heath.
Following the completion of the Port Phillip Amateur, the leading 31 men’s players with 72-hole scores of 302 or better and Nick Watts who survived a sudden death play-off against Troy Moses from New South Wales after both tied on 303 will now progress to the Men’s Victorian Amateur Championship.
The leading 15 women’s players with scores of 316 or better and Victoria’s Olivia Kline, who survived a three way play-off after a tie on 319, will now move onto the Women’s Victorian Amateur match play rounds.
The match play rounds will begin at Commonwealth Golf Club on Monday 16 December with the men’s first round matches to commence from the 1st and 10th tees from 7.30am while the women’s first round matches will commence from the 1st and 10th tees from 12noon.
The 2013 Men’s and Women’s Victorian Amateur Championship culminates with the 36-hole finals on Wednesday 18 December at Kingston Heath. The morning rounds will commence at 7.30am with the afternoon rounds scheduled for 12noon.
Round 2 – Victorian’s poised at the top of the Port Phillip
The second round of the Men’s and Women’s Port Phillip Open Amateur tournaments teed off today at Commonwealth Golf Club. Like yesterday, conditions were relatively conducive for low scoring early on as a mostly sunny day rolled across the perfectly manicured fairways. The southerly breeze again intensified as the day developed with the early starters having the best of the weather.
The battle between world number 2 Su-Hyun Oh and world number 3 Minjee Lee continued today as the pair broadened the gap with the balance of the field.
Oh is currently just ahead in the race to the 2013 title after a fabulous five-under round on the par 75 layout. Oh’s brilliant bogey free tally of 70 included three birdies on her opening nine and two on her way in.
Lee is applying the pressure to the recent US Amateur quarter finalist with another sub-par round of 72 this morning. Lee started strong with a two-under opening nine and got her round to five-under through sixteen but a double bogey on 17 means that she now sits two shots back.
After securing victory in the 2013 Victorian Men’s Country Colts title earlier this year, Andrew Schonewille posted an impressive four under-par to be the clubhouse leader on 142 after the morning field. With the wind gusts gathering momentum, Schonewille’s 36-hole score of four-under looked destine to take the overnight lead.
However, Victorian state team member and VIS scholarship holder, Todd Sinnott notched out Schonewille at the top of the leader board after firing another sensational three-under 70 this afternoon on the hard and fast sloping greens which claimed more than one prisoner as the day progressed.
Schonewille is currently accompanied by Cameron Davis (Roseville NSW), Lucas Herbert (Commonwealth VIC) on 142. Next best is Ryan Ruffels (Victoria VIC) a further two stokes in arrears.
Male players on 156 or better, and females on 162 or better have qualified through to the final two rounds of the Port Phillip Open Amateur (Inc. Victorian Amateur Qualifying rounds).
Round 3 will commence via a shotgun start at 7:45 at Kingston Heath Golf Club tomorrow morning.
Click here for round 2 results and round 3 and 4 draws
Round 1 – Lee, Oh and Moses take charge at the 2013 Port Phillip
New South Welshman Troy Moses fired a four-under-par 69 to take the overnight lead in the 2013 Men’s Port Phillip Amateur, while Minjee Lee and Su-Hyun Oh fired a stellar rounds of 69 to head the Women’s section after the first round was played at the Commonwealth Golf Club today.
The tea-tree lined Championship layout is nestled in the heart of the sandbelt region and was presented in absolutely immaculate condition from fairway to green. The course calls for accurate shot making while the subtle sloping greens can often offer players with a challenge all of its own. The course has hosted an array of national events of late, most notably the Women’s Australian Open’s back in 2011 and 2010.
The Men’s Victorian Amateur Championship qualifying rounds have been held in conjunction with the Port Phillip Open Amateur since 2008. An exciting face to last year’s Championship saw the Port Phillip Open Amateur Tournament include both men’s and women’s sections.
With conditions relatively calm in the morning and temperatures in the mid 20’s many of the early starters made the most of the ideal conditions. Players in the afternoon weren’t are fortunate as they faced a gusty southerly making good scoring problematic and fairly cool for the final few groups out on the course.
Hailing from Bonnie Doon, Moses had a steady start before having birdies on the 5th, 7th, 8th and 9th holes to turn in four-under 32. Birdies on 10 and 13 saw Moses reach 6-under but bogeys at the 17th and 18th holes marred what was otherwise an excellent round.
Moses leads two Victorian’s in Lucas Herbert and Todd Sinnott by a single shot after the pair finished with 70 this morning. Darcy Brereton was the best of the afternoon field with a two-under 71 to be tied with another four players two shots back.
Outshining Moses’ four-under round was the pair of six-under 69’s that was returned from last year’s Victorian Amateur finalists in Minjee Lee and Su-Hyun Oh. Starting on the 10th, Lee carded two outstanding bogey free nines of three-under while Oh closed with 35 to accompany her brilliant five-under par 34 outward nine to be joint leader.
Ellen Davies-Graham was next best with a one-under 74, while both Jaimee Dougan and Grace Lennon are next best but find themselves seven from the lead after rounds of 76 this afternoon.
With just 58 men, and 26 women’ progressing through to Sunday’s final 36-holes at Kingston Heath, many will be eager to make up some ground on the leaders when the second round commences at Commonwealth tomorrow morning.
Click here for Round 1 Results