2017 National 15’s Championships
ACT has shone brightly once again in the 15 & Under National Championships held at The Coast Golf Club, Sydney two weeks ago.
Tuesday, Day One saw James Hynes from Gungahlin Lakes take on the leaders with a 78 gross around the par 70 lay out. James was tied in 10th place after round one, closely followed at 12th by Rowan Harrison from Murrumbidgee with an 80 gross. The leader, Levi Sclater from Victoria started his round on a high with an eagle and kept things going pretty well to finish 4 under 66 gross. Michael Nguyen, Gungahlin Lakes and Junho Yoon, Fairbairn were not far away.
For the girls on Day One, Charle Jacobs from South Australia led with an even par of 70. Cassie Linares from Federal positioned 10th with Silka Solomon from Yowani T14. Fannie Sukhumparnich, Federal and Amber Tilley from Magpies Belconnen were placed 19th and 21st respectively.
In the nett component Rowan Harrison was positioned at 6th place with Junho Yoon T12. Cassie Linares put in a solid performance to be the best of the ACT girls in T10th place for the nett. Elkie Philp from South Australia led after day one with a nett score of 65 on the par 72 track.
Overall our team was placed 5th after the first round.
There was opportunity to move up the leader board after the first session and players were able to get some high quality advice from the Professionals at The Australian Open on Wednesday in readiness for the second and final round scheduled for Thursday. Our excursion to the Australian Open was amazing. We were up close and personal with Jason Day and Jordan Spieth. Especially pleased were Silka and Amber with their photos and autographs with the stars.
We were back on the golfing track though on Thursday with the final round of the championship. An early start saw James tee off at 6.45am and the rest of the team followed. James had a fine round of 73, 3 over par to secure a T5th position overall. Michael finished 16th and Rowan and Junho finished 19th and 24th respectively in the gross component of the competition. The results of the nett component were, James T5, Junho T9, Rowan T15, and Michael 20th.
The girls couldn’t keep the momentum going after day one. Their final results for the gross competition were, Cassie 11th, Silka 16th, Amber 20th and Fannie 21st. The nett performances for the girls were Cassie 12th, Fannie 20th, Amber 23rd and Silka 24th.
The ACT team did not feature in the final placings of the teams event, however much was learned by each member of the team and they are ready to take on the rest of Australia at the Pacific School Games in Adelaide in December. The final team results were:
Champion Team on a Total Score - 826 - Tasmania
Runner Up Team on a Total Score - 846 - South Australia
Third Team on a Total Score - 847 - New South Wales
Final Team score for the ACT – 891
Congratulations to our team who received positive feedback about their behaviour on and off the course from other State Managers. It was a pleasure to be escorting these fine young athletes over the four days. The ACT team would like to acknowledge and thank the work of Steven Harrison, Boys Team Manager, the Central Southern Golf Association for their support of the girl’s team, and JNJG for providing the opportunity and support for our team.
For a JNJG report on the event please go to the JNJG website here.
