Yuan On Top Again
JNJG junior Celina Yuan (The Australian) has done it again storming to victory at the 2015 Victorian Junior Girls Championship. She adds this to her Australian Junior Girls Amateur Championship that she won in April this year. Check out the write up from Golf Victoria about the Championships.
John and Yuan Crowned 2015 Junior Champions
The final two rounds of the Victorian Boys and Girls Championship were fiercely contested today at the fabulous Yarra Yarra Golf Club. The 81 players that made the yesterday’s cut were reprieved from the wet weather that hampered scoring in the opening two rounds but a gusty southerly breeze still kept the field on their toes for the entire day.
Starting the final day with a one shot deficit over the 36-hole leader in Jack Rasmussen, Commonwealth’s Cameron John fought back hard in the third round with a one over par 73 to hold the joint lead with Harrison Gilbert on 224 (+9) with just 18-holes remaining. Gilbert’s brilliant one under 71 in the third round surprised many as he moved from 6th position to tie with John and within reach of the title.
However, the 2015 Victorian Junior Masters champion wasn’t going to let his fourth national title since the start of the year just slip away. John remained composed and patient throughout the entire final round to sign for a one over par 73 and a tournament total of 297 (+10) to secure the boys title for 2015. His nearest opposition in the end was Jack Rasmussen, but a disappointing third round of 82 saw him fall seven strokes short of the junior state team member.
The boy’s trophy boasting the likes of USPGA tour player Marc Leishman will sit nicely alongside John’s Victorian and Tasmanian Junior Masters titles as well as his Tamar Valley Cup.
Corey Haase, Harrison Gilbert and Matias Sanchez all finished tied third on a tally of 305. Haase third round was highlighted by an albatross 2 on the par 5 18th hole when his perfectly struck approach shot found its resting place in the bottom of the cup – a rare feat indeed. In fact Haase’s rounds of 74, 76, 73 and 78 saw him capture the nett title for the tournament, edging out Jordan Smith by a mere shot.
It was a tussle in the girls section with interstate guns Hira Naveed (WA) and Celina Yuan (NSW) battling it out for the girl’s trophy. Naveed started the this morning's round six shots clear of Yuan but the NSW player reeled in the overnight leader to leapfrog Naveed and take a three shot advantage into the final round following a tournament low round of three under-par 69.
Whilst Yuan kept the lead for the entire final round, Naveed continued to nip at her heels reducing the deficit to a single shot shortly after the players made the turn towards the inward nine. However, Yuan’s fine form coming down the stretch proved too good as she etched her name on the silver cup for the second time, the first coming in 2013. She now sits alongside the likes of Su-Hyun Oh, Grace Lennon, and five time winner Jane Lock to have their named on the cup on multiple occasions.
Huntingdale’s Kallista Do notched out Mildura’s Sophie Crouch by the narrowest of margins for victory in the girls handicap championship. Playing from a handicap of 3, Do’s brilliant first round of 70 nett laid the foundation of her win after she recorded 76, 79 and 76 for her final three rounds.
Round 2 - Yarra Yarra Bites its Teeth on the Leaders
The second round of the 2015 Boys and Girls Championship shifted today to the prestigious Yarra Yarra Golf Club. Like yesterday, conditions were extremely tricky with an intense south westerly wind persisting all day coupled with the odd shower - making the going tough to say the least.
After firing a round of one under yesterday, Western Australian and 2015 Victorian Junior Masters Champion Hira Naveed returned a five over-par 77 this morning to take the outright honours at the halfway mark. Overnight joint leader Gabriela Ruffels struggled today after signing for a round of 81 but she still sits well within striking distance of Naveed at four shots back.
Huntingdale’s Kallista Do continued her fine form from yesterday to return a round of 79 to sit in outright second on a tally of 152 – three strokes behind of the 17 year old Mt Lawley member.
In the boys championship, Cranbourne’s Jack Rasmussen is at the top of the leaderboard at five over par following consecutive rounds of 74 in challenging conditions this afternoon. Rasmussen’s consistency over the two rounds saw him leapfrog overnight leaders in Cameron John and Bailey Holloway.
The +2 marker now finds himself with a single shot buffer over John and will have to sleep on the lead tonight knowing that the Australian representative will be looking to chase him down and capture another national title.
57 boys and 24 girls have qualified though to the final 36-holes here Yarra Yarra when the 3rd round commences at 7:00am.
Round 1 - Holloway, Naveed, and Ruffels Reign as it Pours
The first round of the 2015 Victorian Boys and Girls Championship kicked off this morning at Rosanna Golf Club with a record breaking 110 boys and 39 girls taking to the course. Gusty winds tormented the players in the morning field before demoralising rain took its place in the afternoon – making good scoring quite problematic.
Country Victorian Bailey Holloway has hit the ground running in the boys section with a fine level par 71 in the challenging conditions early this morning. The Ballarat member had an up and down outward nine with three birdies and just as many bogies but still managed to turn with a level par 35. A double bogey at the difficult 206m par 3 10th hole almost saw his round grind to a halt but the 16 year old reconciled with birdies at 13 and 15 to duplicate his opening nine of level par.
Victoria’s Cameron John and Tasmania’s Elijah Stanley sit two strokes in arrears of Holloway after today’s opening round. A cluster of seven players including Jackson Kalz, Antony Majstorovic, Toby Walker, Harrison Gilbert, Jack Rasmussen, Josh Hetherington and Jordan Smith are a further shot back.
Sister of young gun Ryan, Gabriela Ruffels showed that she is also a force to be reckoned with after belying the wintery conditions to return her first sub-par round of 72 against the course par of 73. 2015 Victorian Junior Masters Champion, Hira Naveed, is tied with Ruffels at the top of the leaderboard after also firing a one under-par round this afternoon.
Kallista Do will also be applying the pressure on the joint leaders when she starts the second round just one shot adrift at Yarra Yarra Golf Club tomorrow morning.
With thundery and cold weather anticipated the buffers that the leaders currently hold may prove crucial.
