The Australian Amateur was held at Keysborough & Yarra Yarra golf clubs near Melbourne from Jan 16 – 19. Sophie was very excited to play in this pinnacle event of amateur golf.

Here’s how it played out…

DAY ONE:

Sophie got off to a great start on Sunday when she holed in on the 15th hole at Keysborough (170m par 3). This was Soph’s first ever “hole in one” but unfortunately it was only a practice round.

Soph’s first competition round was late in the afternoon on Tuesday and she was greeted with the heat of the afternoon and high winds which made the long, hilly course at Yarra Yarra play even longer.

Soph hit the ball well but a few 3 putts including 2 lip outs did not help and an extremely unlucky 17th hole where her ball just trickled into a swampy bunker and her free drop did not provide much relief as it was too tight to the edge to make a good shot out. Soph played so much better than she scored and signed for a somewhat disappointing 79 (6 over).

DAY TWO:

Round 2 was early the next morning at Keysborough GC and it rained all morning. Despite the poor conditions and determined to make the cut, Soph started hot with one birdie and then a second birdie but play was stopped as the greens flooded and were deemed unplayable.

Play finally resumed after 2hrs+ but Soph started cold after the break with a bogey then a double bogey as the rain persisted. She gradually found her form again and finished the remainder of the round with even par carding a 74 (1 over).

After 2 days Soph was 7 over and had to wait for the field to finish. Only the top 33 women + ties would play the next 2 rounds at Yarra Yarra. At the end of the day, the cut was +7 so Soph had just made it.

DAY THREE:

Day 3 yielded crazy winds in excess of 45kms and bouts of rain. Soph continued to hit the ball well but a poorly played hole and an unlucky hole lead to doubles and a final result of 78 (5 over). Once again her scorecard did not reflect her ball striking that day.

DAY FOUR:

Day 4 yielded better weather conditions but the previous days efforts seem to have taken their toll and Soph was tired. Her chipping, bunker play and putting were unusually inconsistent leading to a lot of bogeys and an 80 (7 over) to finish the tournament in 32nd. Not the finish Soph wanted but making the cut in such a high calibre tournament was definitely a memorable achievement.