Greg O’Brien from the Howlong Golf Club in New South Wales has snatched victory by a single shot today to win the Victoria Golf Club Senior Amateur on a course layout that proved to be a test of skill for the majority of the field.
Seventy four competitors from 5 different Australian States and Territories took to the course in the 2015 edition of the Doug Bachli Senior Amateur which was held at Victoria Golf Club.
This is the third senior event being held this week on Melbourne’s famous Sandbelt, and the players were very lucky to have been greeted with a bright and sunny day for today’s round, the best weather so far.
The shot of the day went to a very familiar face to Golf Victoria’s senior events, Rossdale’s Kerry Boehm, who had a Hole in One on the 229 metre Par 4 first hole. Kerry said a “smooth 3-wood with wind assistance” was all that was required for him to have his fourth career Hole in One, his first on a Par 4.
The fantastic par 72 layout was home to the late Doug Bachli, a life member & 12 time club champion of the Victorian Golf Club. Bachli’s incredible list of achievements also includes a two time champion of both the Victorian & Australian amateur championships as well as becoming the first Australian to win the British amateur title. Each year this event named in Bachli’s honour is one of the most highly anticipated & fiercely contested events on the senior calendar.
O’Brien fired a 4 over par score of 76, to take the title from Kingston Heath member Gordon Claney who shot 77. Both men competed yesterday at Kingston Heath but were unable to put themselves into a podium position. Gordon, who won this event last year, will now move onto the next event at Royal Melbourne.
In the nett section, a countback was required to separate two interstate players, with Rod Fraser (Monash, NSW) coming out on top ahead of Neville Hewett (Yowani, ACT) both having fine days, recording nett 72 of handicaps of 8 and 14 respectively. Fraser said he 'enjoyed the couch covered fairways, a pleasant change from his home club Monash'.
Players will enjoy a rest day tomorrow, before taking to the fairways of Royal Melbourne’s West Course on Friday afternoon in the club’s Senior Amateur event.
To view full results, click here.