Australian Amateur

The Australian Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It has been played annually since 1894, except for the war years, and is organised by Golf Australia.

Australian Amateur
Tournament information
LocationAustralia
Established1894
FormatStroke play and match play
Month playedJanuary
Current champion
Jed Morgan

Since 1959 it has been played in two stages, a stroke play stage followed by a match play stage. Currently the event is played over six days in January and consists of a 36-hole stroke-play qualifying stage after which the leading 64 play six rounds of match-play. The final is over 36 holes.

The winner of the stroke-play stage is the Australian Medallist. For a few years from 2006, the winner of the stroke play stage was named the Australian Amateur Stroke Play champion.[1]

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. The leading 8 or 16 amateurs in the open played match-play on the following 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]

When the championship resumed in 1946 it was played at Royal Sydney after the Australian Open that had been played there. However, the Open no longer acted as a qualifying event and the amateur championship became match-play only with 18-hole matches except for the final. Alan Waterson beat Jim Pendergast 2&1 in the final.[16][17] From 1947 the Open and Amateur were generally played at separate venues. In 1952 both Open and Amateur championships were held at Lake Karrinyup, the first time either had been held in Western Australia. The format for the amateur championship was revised for that year only, with a 36-hole stroke-play qualifying event with the leading 32 players playing in the match-play stage. Bob Stevens led the qualifiers with a score of 141 and went on to win the title, beating Bill Higgins 7&6 in the final.[18][19]

In 1959 36-hole stroke-play qualifying was introduced with the leading 64 players playing in the match-play stage. From 1971 the number of qualifiers was reduced to 32, while from 1996 to 2011 the qualifying rounds were played over 72 holes. In 2012 the format returned to the 1959 format with the leading 64 qualifying after 36 holes of stroke play.[20]

Winners
YearVenueWinnerScoreRunner-up
2020Royal Queensland Golf Club Jed Morgan5 & 3 Tom McKibbin
2019Woodlands Conor Purcell37 holes Nathan Barbieri
2018Lake Karrinyup Keita Nakajima4 & 3 David Micheluzzi
2017Yarra Yarra Matias Sanchez1 up Min Woo Lee
2016Metropolitan Connor Syme3 & 2 Travis Smyth
2015The Australian Cameron Davis37 holes Tyler Hodge
2014The Grange Tae Koh6 & 5 Curtis Luck
2013Commonwealth Cameron Smith3 & 2 Geoff Drakeford
2012Woodlands Marcel Schneider37 holes Daniel Nisbet
2011The Victoria Matt Stieger1 up Ben Campbell
2010Lake Karrinyup Matt Jager8 & 7 Ben Campbell
2009Royal Queensland Scott Arnold3 & 1 Daniel Beckmann
2008Royal Adelaide Anders Kristiansen7 & 6 Michael Foster
2007New South Wales Rohan Blizard3 & 2 Justin Roach
2006Royal Hobart Tim Stewart1 up Mitchell Brown
2005Royal Melbourne Eric Ramsay6 & 5 Andrew Tampion
2004Royal Adelaide Andrew Martin2 & 1 Jarrod Lyle
2003Mount Lawley Jack Doherty5 & 4 Bradley Iles
2002Indooroopilly Kurt Barnes2 & 1 Michael Sim
2001Metropolitan Andrew Buckle7 & 6 Marcus Both
2000Tasmania Brad Lamb2 up John Sutherland
1999The Australian Brendan Jones2 & 1 Mahal Pearce
1998The Grange Brett Rumford1 up Matthew Costigan
1997Lake Karrinyup Kim Felton8 & 7 Derrin Morgan
1996Brisbane David Gleeson1 up Lester Peterson
1995Huntingdale Mathew Goggin3 & 2 Jamie Crow
1994Royal Sydney Warren Bennett2 & 1 Jamie McCallum
1993Royal Hobart Greg Chalmers6 & 5 Matthew Ecob
1992Royal Adelaide Michael Campbell4 & 3 Jarrod Moseley
1991Lake Karrinyup Lucas Parsons2 & 1 Steve Collins
1990Royal Queensland Chris Gray3 & 2 Robert Willis
1989Victoria Steven Conran2 up Paul Moloney
1988Royal Canberra Stuart Bouvier2 & 1 David Ecob
1987Royal Hobart Brett Johns3 & 2 Phil Aickin
1986Glenelg David Ecob37 holes Lester Peterson
1985Royal Perth Boonchu Ruangkit2 & 1 Peter O'Malley
1984Royal Queensland Brad King1 up Bill Guy
1983Commonwealth Wayne Smith37 holes Brent Paterson
1982The Australian Eric Couper8 & 6 Dave Bromley
1981Royal Adelaide Ossie Moore8 & 7 Col Lindsay
1980Tasmania Roger Mackay3 & 1 Gerard Power
1979Royal Perth John Kelly37 holes Peter Sweeney
1978Royal Queensland Michael Clayton1 up Tony Gresham
1977Victoria Tony Gresham40 holes Chris Bonython
1976New South Wales Peter Sweeney5 & 4 Tony Gresham
1975Royal Adelaide Chris Bonython1 up Terry Gale
1974Royal Hobart Terry Gale8 & 7 Peter Wardrop
1973Lake Karrinyup Ray Jenner4 & 2 Tony Gresham
1972Gailes Colin Kaye37 holes Peter Headland
1971Metropolitan Randall Hicks5 & 4 Bill Wellington
1970The Australian Peter Bennett2 up Paul Jones
1969Royal Adelaide Bob Shearer6 & 5 Ross Murray
1968Royal Hobart Roy Stott3 & 1 Dennis Bell
1967Royal Perth John Muller1 up Graham Marsh
1966Brisbane Bill Britten2 & 1 Vic Bulgin
1965Royal Melbourne Kevin Donohoe4 & 2 Harry McGain
1964The Australian Barrie Baker2 & 1 Tom Crow
1963Kingston Heath John Hayes8 & 7 Derek Kemp
1962Kooyonga Doug Bachli (2)7 & 6 John Hood
1961Royal Melbourne Tom Crow3 & 2 Eric Routley
1960Lake Karrinyup Ted Ball5 & 4 Harold Digney
1959Royal Sydney Bruce Devlin2 up Jack Coogan
1958Royal Adelaide Kevin Hartley39 holes Noel Bartell
1957Commonwealth Barry Warren3 & 1 Bruce Devlin
1956The Australian Harry Berwick (2)1 up Bill Edgar
1955Royal Queensland Jack Rayner4 & 2 Barry Warren
1954Royal Adelaide Peter Toogood5 & 4 John Toogood
1953New South Wales Peter Heard (2)8 & 7 Jack Coogan
1952Lake Karrinyup Bob Stevens7 & 6 Bill Higgins
1951Royal Melbourne Peter Heard3 & 2 Bill Higgins
1950Royal Adelaide Harry Berwick4 & 3 Bill Edgar
1949Royal Sydney Bill Ackland-Horman38 holes Bill Edgar
1948Metropolitan Doug Bachli7 & 6 Peter Heard
1947Royal Adelaide Harry Hattersley (2)1 up Bill Gluth
1946Royal Sydney Alan Waterson2 & 1 Jim Pendergast
1940–1945 No tournament due to World War II
1939Royal Melbourne Jim Ferrier (4)6 & 5 Harry Williams
1938Royal Adelaide Jim Ferrier (3)8 & 6 Dick Payne
1937The Australian Harry Williams (2)1 up Tom Tanner
1936Metropolitan Jim Ferrier (2)9 & 8 Alex Rae
1935Royal Adelaide Jim Ferrier2 & 1 Harry Hattersley
1934Royal Sydney Tom McKay5 & 4 Eric Apperly
1933Royal Melbourne William Hope6 & 5 Gus Jackson
1932Royal Adelaide Reg Bettington2 & 1 Harry Williams
1931The Australian Harry Williams3 & 2 George Thompson
1930Metropolitan Harry Hattersley3 & 1 Alex Russell
1929Royal Adelaide Mick Ryan2 & 1 Sloan Morpeth
1928Royal Sydney Leonard Nettlefold (2)4 & 2 Stan Keane
1927Royal Melbourne William Nankivell38 holes Legh Winser
1926Royal Adelaide Leonard Nettlefold2 up Ivo Whitton
1925The Australian Harry Sinclair (2)12 & 10 George Thompson
1924Royal Melbourne Harry Sinclair2 & 1 Alex Russell
1923Royal Adelaide Ivo Whitton (2)3 & 2 Harry Sinclair
1922Royal Sydney Ivo Whitton3 & 2 Henry McLelland
1921Royal Melbourne Legh Winser6 & 5 Bruce Pearce
1920The Australian Eric Apperly4 & 3 Tom Howard
1914–1919 No tournament due to World War I
1913Royal Melbourne Audley Lemprière2 & 1 Ivo Whitton
1912Royal Melbourne Hector Morrison3 & 1 Gordon Burnham
1911Royal Sydney Jim Howden (2)4 & 3 Claude Felstead
1910Adelaide Michael Scott (4)10 & 8 Jim Howden
1909Royal Melbourne Michael Scott (3)37 holes Clyde Pearce
1908The Australian Clyde Pearce10 & 8 Neptune Christoe
1907Royal Melbourne Michael Scott (2)318 Clyde Pearce
1906Royal Sydney Ernest Gill5 & 4 Clyde Pearce
1905Royal Melbourne Michael Scott347 Jim Howden
1904The Australian Jim Howden3 & 2 Michael Scott
1903Adelaide Dan Soutar3 & 1 Jim Howden
1902Royal Melbourne Hugh MacNeil328 Peter Anderson
Walter Carre Riddell
1901The Australian Harry Howden (4)352 Hugh MacNeil
1900Adelaide Louis Whyte (2)382 Walter Carre Riddell
1899Sydney Charles Gillies314 Harry Howden
Victorian Golf Cup
1898Royal Melbourne Harry Howden (3)360 Jim Howden
1897Royal Melbourne Harry Howden (2)348 William McIntyre
1896Royal Melbourne Harry Howden1 up Robert Balfour-Melville
1895Melbourne Robert Balfour-Melvilleeven Thomas Hope
1894Melbourne Louis Whyte6 down Mark Anderson

All match-play finals have been over 36 holes. A number of early events used different formats. The 1894 and 1895 were bogey competitions, decided over 3 rounds; Whyte winning by 6 holes in 1894 and Balfour-Melville by 10 holes in 1895. The events from 1897 to 1902, 1905 and 1907 were decided by 72-holes of stroke-play. Howden won by 33 strokes in 1897 and 13 strokes in 1898. Gillies won by 11 strokes in 1899, Whyte by 4 in 1900, Howden by 7 in 1901 and MacNeil by 6 in 1902. Scott was 6 strokes ahead of Howden in 1905 and 12 ahead of Pearce in 1907.

[20]

Medallists

The winner of the stroke play stage is the Australian Medallist. For a few years from 2006, the winner of the stroke play stage was named the Australian Amateur Stroke Play champion.[1]

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See also

References
  1. New trophy for Australian Amateur Stroke Play Archived October 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. http://www.golf.org.au/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Australian%20Men's%20Amateur(6).pdf
  3. "Melbourne Golf Club". The Age (12, 384). Victoria, Australia. 6 November 1894. p. 3. Retrieved 15 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "Melbourne Golf Club". The Age (12, 388). Victoria, Australia. 10 November 1894. p. 8. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Royal Melbourne Golf Club". The Age (12, 699). Victoria, Australia. 11 November 1895. p. 3. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "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.
  7. "Golf". The Age (13, 300). Victoria, Australia. 16 October 1897. p. 10. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "The Golf Championship". The Age (13610). Victoria, Australia. 15 October 1898. p. 14. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "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.
  10. "Golf". Weekly Times (1, 613). Victoria, Australia. 7 July 1900. p. 17. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "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.
  12. "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.
  13. "Golf". The Sunday Sun (13). New South Wales, Australia. 28 June 1903. p. 2. Retrieved 16 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. "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.
  15. "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.
  16. "Queenslanders Spring Golf Surprise". The Sydney Morning Herald (33, 946). New South Wales, Australia. 10 October 1946. p. 9. Retrieved 12 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. "Title Win By Waterson Was Deserved". The Sydney Morning Herald (33, 952). New South Wales, Australia. 17 October 1946. p. 11. Retrieved 12 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. "Six From N.S.W. Still In Golf". The Sydney Morning Herald (35, 794). New South Wales, Australia. 10 September 1952. p. 12. Retrieved 13 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. "Stevens Has Easy Amateur Golf Win". The Age (30, 383). Victoria, Australia. 15 September 1952. p. 12. Retrieved 13 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. "History & Honour Roll – Australian Men's Stroke Play and Amateur Championship" (PDF). Retrieved 12 January 2019.
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