<image="1" align="left" />The depth of Western Australian golf was further underlined after the men’s State Amateur Team almost pulled off an upset win against a PGA Team of homegrown professionals at Melville Glades on Friday.
Less than a week before world number one amateur Curtis Luck makes his debut at The Masters his unpaid colleagues proved the depth behind him in this state is in sound order after narrowly falling to a 6.5-5.5 defeat in the Ryder-Cup style format.
The PGA Team boasted more than 20 professional titles, and were highlighted by newly-crowned World Super 6 Perth champion Brett Rumford, who was one of the high-profile professionals to taste defeat in the afternoon singles.
The 39-year-old was comfortably beaten 7&6 by Min Woo Lee as the teenager revelled in the company of a well-credentialed opponent and in front of a healthy gallery.
Lee eagled the second to set the stage for a pulsating afternoon’s action after the scores had been level at 2-2 following the morning’s foursomes.
The amateurs were dreaming of an upset win when Kiran Day followed Lee’s success with a 1up win against European Tour professional Jason Scrivener, who had teamed with Rumford in the morning to beat Day and Lee 4&3.
A further win 1up win by Adam Hatch, a WA State team debutant at the age of 33, set the alarm bells ringing amongst the professionals who nonetheless steadied to ensure they could not be beaten with the final pairing of Ben Ferguson and 2016 Vic Open champion Michael Long all square coming down the last.
Long duly halved the hole to ensure a professional victory, however, for the amateurs it was a firm indicator of their quality ahead of May’s Interstate Series, which will also be staged at Melville Glades.
Western Australia have not won the Interstate Series since Rumford captained the team to glory in 1999 and was impressed with the standard on display on Friday.
“All the boys from the State side – it’s a really strong team,” he said.
“It has a real depth about it. In years past it might have been top heavy, but from top to bottom you have a real strength to the bottom and they’ve all been playing some really good golf this year.
“They pushed us all the way to the end today. I just hope today was about giving them a little bit of match fitness leading into the Interstate Series.”
Rumford also hailed the return of the ‘Professionals v Amateurs’ rivalry after a seen-year absence from the WA golf calendar.
The six-time European Tour winner was part of the amateur team that did pull off a shock over the pros en-route to their Interstate success 18 years ago, and was proud to be a part of its return after some of the professionals flew in from around the world to play.
“It’s just great to have it back – there were some quality players from the professional side,” he said.
“We have a real strength and depth to the pro side as well and to play the way they did shows some character. Myself and Scriv beat K Day and Min Woo in the morning, but obviously they came out and played great in the afternoon.
“The signs are there. It’s just all about belief. They just ave to believe they have the game to do it on the day.”
Ferguson hailed the one-off tournament as the perfect preparation for the Interstate Series, when the eight-man WA squad will take on the rest of the country in singles matches.
“The boys put up a pretty decent effort considering some of the players in the PGA squad,” Ferguson said.
“The likes of Brett Rumford and Jason Scrivener are in their team and two of our boys got over them today – we have a very strong side so if we can do something similar to that in the Interstate Series then we’ll be up there.
“That was very like the Interstate Series and getting to play matchplay in that format with some awesome golfers was good.”
Ferguson admitted to some nerves as he walked down the last knowing he could snatch a creditable draw for his team.
“A little bit. I knew I had to win that hole to halve the match, but it was good to get that experience down the last and what Interstate will be like,” he said.
“I think it shows we can do well, we have a very strong team. We have some new faces – Coops, Calum and Adam – and then we’ve got a lot of experience under our belt; I think this is my fourth year and Min has had four or five years and also Kiran four years.
“We’re all looking forward to it and this has been an important part of getting ready for it.”
RESUTS: Foursomes: Rumford-Scrivener (Pros) d MW Lee-Day 4&3 (Ams); Ferguson-Barron (Ams) d Dartnall-Long (Pros) 2&1; Felton-Martin (Pros) d Juniper-Hatch (Ams) 1up; Geddes-F Lee (Ams) d Fox-Kulacz (Pros) 2up.
Singles: MW Lee (Ams) d Rumford (Pros) 7&6; Day (Ams) d Scrivener (Pros) 1up; Martin (Pros) d Juniper (Ams) 5&4; Hatch (Ams) d Kulacz (Pros) 1up; Dartnall (Pros) d Barron (Ams) 4&2; Felton (Pros) d F Lee (Ams) 2&1; Fox (Pros) d Geddes (Ams) 3&2; Ferguson (Ams) A/S Long (Pros).