The 2016 Men’s and Women’s Victorian Amateur Championships have reached the quarter-final stage after the opening rounds of matches were played at Woodlands Golf Club on Monday 12 December.
On a beautiful fine and sunny day with a gentle southerly wind, players enjoyed ideal scoring conditions in the quest for the coveted Men’s and Women’s Victorian Amateur titles both of which date back over 100 years.
The respective men’s and women’s leading qualifiers survived the opening rounds to progress to the quarter final stage. Women’s No. 1 Elizabeth Elmassian (The Australian NSW) safely progressed to the quarter finals with a five and four win over Hannele Mikkola (Victoria).
Men’s number one seed David Micheluzzi (Metropolitan) defeated Commonwealth’s Richard Cahill 2/1 in the round of 32, before surviving a tense battle in the afternoon match with fellow club mate Aiden Didone coming back from two down with four holes to play to win at the 19th.
Elmassian, the newly crowned Port Phillip Women’s Amateur Champion, will now meet Victoria’s Kono Matsumoto in the quarter-finals after Matsumoto accounted for fellow club mate and 2015 Women’s Victorian Amateur runner-up Stephanie Bunque.
Other first round results saw most leading qualifiers safely progress including Royal Melbourne’s Alizza Hetherington, Victoria’s Olivia Kline and 2015 Port Phillip Women’s Champion Queensland’s Rebecca Kay.
With 32 players qualifying through from the Men’s Port Phillip Amateur, the Men’s Championship saw two rounds played on the opening day with New South Wales visitor John Lyras becoming the day’s surprise packet. The St Michael’s member disposed of 2014 Victorian Amateur Champion Zach Murray 1up before defeating local favourite Jack Deftereos-Brennan (Woodlands) in the round of 16.
Lyras will now meet Royal Melbourne’s Darcy Brereton in the quarter-finals, after Brereton defeated Heidelberg’s Toby Walker 7/5 in the round of 16 and survived a tight morning match with current Queensland state team representative Charlie Dann.
A major casualty in the men’s competitions on the first day was current Ivo Whitton Champion Kyle Michel, who went down 5/3 in the first round to Royal Melbourne’s Aaron Southern. In other results, Victorian State Team member and defending champion Cameron John is still well in the mix, along with Frazer Droop (Yarrawonga), current US Junior Champion Min Woo Lee (Royal Fremantle WA) and New South Wales state team representative Dylan Perry.
The Men’s and Women’s Victorian Amateur Quarter-Finals will be played over 18-holes at Woodlands commencing at 7.15am on Tuesday 13 December. The semi-finals will then be played over 18-holes in the afternoon from 12 noon.
The 2016 Men’s and Women’s Victorian Amateur Championship then culminates with the 36-hole finals on Wednesday 14 December at Woodlands. The morning rounds will commence at 7.30am with the afternoon rounds scheduled for 12:30pm.
Full Matchplay results are available via the following links:
To view round of eight draw, click here.