Quinn Croker has secured the biggest win of his career at the adidas Australian Amateur, but 15-year-old Amelia Harris suffered the cruellest of cuts in the final round at Yarra Yarra Golf Club.
Queenslander Croker, 21, won the men’s section by five shots having started with a four-shot buffer, and closing with a 67.
Yarra Yarra local Phoenix Campbell was Croker’s primary challenger in the final round, and looked like he might pull off the win early.
“I’d never played with him round here before and stood on the first tee and he made a bloody good swing off the first tee so I knew it would be no kick-in,” Croker said.
While some may have cracked under the pressure Campbell was putting on, Croker seemed to thrive under it, making three birdies in a row from holes eight through 10.
After an additional birdie on the 14th, Croker’s lead was eight shots, and he could finally relax a little and enjoy the final stretch of beautiful holes at Yarra Yarra.
“Walking off 15 green I saw the leaderboard, and the swings got a little bit easier,” Croker said.
The win this week is certainly Croker’s biggest to date, and is validation for his decision to remain in the amateur ranks despite some incredible results on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia this season.
Campbell finished outright second at nine-under, after a valiant two-under 68 today.
Meanwhile, Melbourne schoolgirl Harris finished outright second behind Japan’s Mamika Shinchi, who played a brilliant final round of 66 to win by two shots.
Shinchi had an incredible 10 birdies and a back nine of 31. It put her at 10-under par overall and a winner by two shots over Harris, who shot a one-over 74 in the final round to finish at eight-under and outright second.
“Obviously it stings a bit,” she said. “But I’m happy with how I finished. It’s my best finish.”
Another Japanese player, Aina Fujimoto, finished equal third with New Zealand’s Eunseo Cho.
Queenslander Justice Bosio rallied strongly to finish in the top five.
SCORING
Men’s
-14 Quinn Croker
-9 Phoenix Campbell
-5 Abel Eduard
Women’s
-10 Mamika Shinchi (Japan)
-8 Amelia Harris
-7 Eunseo Choi (NZ)
Aina Fujimoto (Japan)
