Australian Amateur
The Australian Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It has been played annually since 1894 (except for war years) and is organised by Golf Australia. It is a Golf Australia national ranking event.
Since 1958 it has been played in two stages, a stroke play stage followed by a match play stage. From 1958 to 2005, the winner of the stroke play stage, the medalist, was awarded the Australian Medal. Since 2006, the winner of the stroke play stage is named the Australian Amateur Stroke Play champion.[1]
Pasts winners have included Brett Rumford, Greg Chalmers and Bob Shearer.
History
The championship is reckoned to start in 1894 when the Melbourne Golf Club founded the "Victorian Golf Cup" open to all amateurs in Australasia.[2] The 1894 contest was played on 5, 7 and 9 November with the result decided by a bogey contest over three rounds. Louis Whyte won with a score of 6 holes down on bogey, 6 holes ahead of Mark Anderson.[3][4] The same format was used for 1895 event, which was played on 4, 6 and 8 November. Robert Balfour-Melville was even with bogey, 10 holes ahead of Dr. Hope.[5] The 1896 contest was held from 23 to 25 September and was decided by match-play with the final over 36 holes. Defending champion, Robert Balfour-Melville, met Harry Howden in the final. Howden was 4 up with five to play before Balfour-Melville levelled the match at the 35th. However Howden won the last to win by 1 hole.[6] The event was decided by 72 holes of stroke-play in 1897, played on 13 and 15 October. Harry Howden retained the trophy with a score of 348, 33 strokes ahead of W McIntyre. Howden led by 12 after the first day and extended this by a further 21 on the final day.[7] The 1898 event was again decided by stroke-play. Harry Howden was three behind the leaders after the first day but pulled away on the final day and won with a score of 360, 13 ahead of his brother Jim.[8]
The Australian Golf Union was formed in 1898 and organised their first championship at Royal Sydney Golf Club on 26 and 27 May 1899. Harry Howden and New Zealander Charles Gillies were level after the first day on 157. Howden led by a stroke after three rounds after Gillies had taken 11 at the fourth hole. The pair were still level with nine holes to play but Gillies came home in 37 to Howden's 48 to win with a total of 314, 11 ahead of Howden, who still took second place.[9] In 1900 it was held at Adelaide Golf Club on 28 and 29 June. Louis Whyte won with a score of 382, four ahead of Walter Carre Riddell.[10] The championship returned to the Sydney area in 1901, being played at The Australian Golf Club on 11 and 12 July. Harry Howden won with a score of 352, 7 strokes ahead of Hugh MacNeil, although he had trailed by 5 after the first day.[11] The 1902 championship was played at Royal Melbourne on 22 and 23 October. Hugh MacNeil won with a score of 328, six ahead of Peter Anderson and Walter Carre Riddell.[12] In 1903 the event returned to Adelaide Golf Club, played from 25 to 27 June. The format was revised, there being a 36-hole stroke-play after which the leading 8 played match-play with a 36-hole final. Dan Soutar beat Jim Howden 3&1 in the final.[13]
From 1904 to 1939 the championship meeting included an open event, the Australian Open. Generally the leading 16 amateurs in the open played match-play on subsequent days to determine the amateur champion. However when the meeting was held at Royal Melbourne in 1905 and 1907 there was no separate event, the amateur championship being won by the leading amateur in the open. In 1905 Dan Soutar won the open with a score of 337, 10 strokes ahead of runner-up Michael Scott, who therefore became the amateur champion.[14] In 1907 Scott won the open championship with a score of 318, 7 ahead of the leading professional Dan Soutar, becoming both open and amateur champions. Scott had to survive a protest, having accidentally driven from outside the teeing ground at one hole.[15]
Winners
| Year | Winner | Medalist |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Keita Nakajima | Connor McKinney |
| 2017 | Matias Sanchez | Kevin Yuan |
| 2016 | Connor Syme | Charles Pilon |
| 2015 | Cameron Davis | Nick Marsh |
| 2014 | Tae Koh | Ryan Evans |
| 2013 | Cameron Smith | Brady Watt |
| 2012 | Marcel Schneider | Cameron Smith |
| 2011 | Matt Stieger | Cameron Smith |
| 2010 | Matt Jager | Matt Jager |
| 2009 | Scott Arnold | Bryden Macpherson |
| 2008 | Anders Kristiansen | Danny Willett |
| 2007 | Rohan Blizard | Andrew Dodt |
| 2006 | Tim Stewart | Jason Day |
| 2005 | Eric Ramsay | Kang Sung-hoon |
| 2004 | Andrew Martin | Brad Iles |
| 2003 | Jack Doherty | Mitchell Brown |
| 2002 | Kurt Barnes | Andrew Buckle |
| 2001 | Andrew Buckle | Steven Bowditch |
| 2000 | Brad Lamb | Warwick Dews |
| 1999 | Brendan Jones | B Bone Brendan Jones |
| 1998 | Brett Rumford | Kim Felton |
| 1997 | Kim Felton | Daniel Gaunt Terry Pilkadaris |
| 1996 | David Gleeson | J Crow |
| 1995 | Mathew Goggin | D Anderson Marcus Wheelhouse |
| 1994 | Warren Bennett | Jason Dawes |
| 1993 | Greg Chalmers | S Collins A Toogood |
| 1992 | Michael Campbell | Stephen Leaney |
| 1991 | Lucas Parsons | Lucas Parsons |
| 1990 | Chris Gray | S Tait |
| 1989 | Steven Conran | T Mills J Wade |
| 1988 | Stuart Bouvier | J Wade R Willis |
| 1987 | Brett Johns | G Joyner |
| 1986 | David Ecob | C Warren |
| 1985 | Boonchu Ruangkit | Brett Ogle |
| 1984 | B P King | John J Hay |
| 1983 | Wayne Smith | Wayne Smith |
| 1982 | E M Couper | I Hood Wayne Smith |
| 1981 | Ossie Moore | Tony Gresham |
| 1980 | Roger Mackay | Colin Kaye |
| 1979 | J A Kelly | Colin Kaye |
| 1978 | Michael Clayton | E Booth |
| 1977 | Tony Gresham | Tony Gresham Colin Kaye |
| 1976 | Peter Sweeney | Chris Bonython B Cook Peter Sweeney Doug Witham |
| 1975 | Chris Bonython | Tony Gresham |
| 1974 | Terry Gale | E Booth Terry Gale |
| 1973 | R A Jenner | P Headland |
| 1972 | Colin Kaye | K Drage Colin Kaye S Mackay |
| 1971 | Randall Hicks | M Cahill |
| 1970 | Peter Bennett | B Warren |
| 1969 | Bob Shearer | D Good |
| 1968 | R E Stott | B Burgess D Grant Bob Shearer |
| 1967 | John Muller | Tony Gresham |
| 1966 | Bill Britten | Vic Bulgin |
| 1965 | Kevin Donohoe | Kevin Hartley |
| 1964 | Barry Baker | N Bartell |
| 1963 | J O Hayes | Harry Berwick Eric Routley |
| 1962 | Doug Bachli | A Hutton |
| 1961 | Tom Crow | Phil Billings |
| 1960 | Ted Ball | L O'Shea |
| 1959 | Bruce Devlin | Jack Coogan |
| 1958 | Kevin Hartley | J Higson |
| 1957 | Barry Warren | |
| 1956 | Harry Berwick | |
| 1955 | J N Rayner | |
| 1954 | Peter Toogood | |
| 1953 | P F Heard | |
| 1952 | Bob Stevens | |
| 1951 | P F Heard | |
| 1950 | Harry Berwick | |
| 1949 | Bill Ackland-Horman | |
| 1948 | Doug Bachli | |
| 1947 | Harry Hattersley | |
| 1946 | Alan Waterson | |
| 1940–45 | No tournament due to World War II | |
| 1939 | Jim Ferrier | |
| 1938 | Jim Ferrier | |
| 1937 | Harry Williams | |
| 1936 | Jim Ferrier | |
| 1935 | Jim Ferrier | |
| 1934 | Tom McKay | |
| 1933 | William Hope | |
| 1932 | Reg Bettington | |
| 1931 | Harry Williams | |
| 1930 | Harry Hattersley | |
| 1929 | Mick Ryan | |
| 1928 | Leonard Nettlefold | |
| 1927 | William Nankivell | |
| 1926 | Leonard Nettlefold | |
| 1925 | Harry Sinclair | |
| 1924 | Harry Sinclair | |
| 1923 | Ivo Whitton | |
| 1922 | Ivo Whitton | |
| 1921 | Cyril Legh Winser | |
| 1920 | Eric Apperly | |
| 1914–19 | No tournament due to World War I | |
| 1913 | Audley Lemprière | |
| 1912 | H D Morrison | |
| 1911 | Jim Howden | |
| 1910 | Michael Scott | |
| 1909 | Michael Scott | |
| 1908 | Clyde Pearce | |
| 1907 | Michael Scott | |
| 1906 | Ernest Gill | |
| 1905 | Michael Scott | |
| 1904 | Jim Howden | |
| 1903 | Dan Soutar | |
| 1902 | Hugh MacNeil | |
| 1901 | Harry Howden | |
| 1900 | Louis Whyte | |
| 1899 | Charles Gillies | |
| Victorian Golf Cup | ||
| 1898 | Harry Howden | |
| 1897 | Harry Howden | |
| 1896 | Harry Howden | |
| 1895 | Robert Balfour-Melville | |
| 1894 | Louis Whyte | |
See also
References
- ↑ New trophy for Australian Amateur Stroke Play Archived October 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ http://www.golf.org.au/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Australian%20Men's%20Amateur(6).pdf
- ↑ "Melbourne Golf Club". The Age (12, 384). Victoria, Australia. 6 November 1894. p. 3. Retrieved 15 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ↑ "Melbourne Golf Club". The Age (12, 388). Victoria, Australia. 10 November 1894. p. 8. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ↑ "Royal Melbourne Golf Club". The Age (12, 699). Victoria, Australia. 11 November 1895. p. 3. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ↑ "The Melbourne Tournament". The Sydney Mail And New South Wales Advertiser. LXII, (1891). New South Wales, Australia. 3 October 1896. p. 717. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ↑ "Golf". The Age (13, 300). Victoria, Australia. 16 October 1897. p. 10. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ↑ "The Golf Championship". The Age (13610). Victoria, Australia. 15 October 1898. p. 14. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ↑ "Golf". The Sydney Morning Herald (19, 097). New South Wales, Australia. 29 May 1899. p. 5. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ↑ "Golf". Weekly Times (1, 613). Victoria, Australia. 7 July 1900. p. 17. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ↑ "Golf". The Sydney Morning Herald (19, 762). New South Wales, Australia. 13 July 1901. p. 10. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ↑ "Amateur Golf Championship". The Daily Telegraph (7294). New South Wales, Australia. 24 October 1902. p. 6. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ↑ "Golf". The Sunday Sun (13). New South Wales, Australia. 28 June 1903. p. 2. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ↑ "Australian Golf Championship". The Sydney Morning Herald (21, 106). New South Wales, Australia. 28 October 1905. p. 14. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ↑ "Golf". The Sydney Morning Herald (21, 746). New South Wales, Australia. 28 September 1907. p. 14. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.