Ashley Hall takes green jacket at NEC Amateurs

BY iseekgolf.com | Australian Mens Amateur Tour | 2005 NEC Master of the Amateurs | Wrap | 27 Jan 2005

21-year-old Ashley Hall from Hampton Park has held on to win the 2005 NEC Master of the Amateurs at Yarra Yarra Golf Club in Melbourne. But he had to withstand a strong challenge from World Junior Golf Champion Jason Day. Hall dropped two shots on the par three 11th, but birdied the 14th, 16th and 18th to finish eight under for the tournament and victory by just one stroke in the 72 hole event.

Ashley admitted he got off to a shaky start but after he ended up in a left hand bunker on the 4th and was able to save par, he felt he was back on track. He will be presented with “the Green Jacket” at a presentation dinner at the Langham Hotel in Melbourne tonight.

Jason Day had an eagle putt on the 18th which would have forced a play off, but he had to settle for a birdie and second place. Jason birdied the 12th, dropped a shot on the par four 14th before an eagle on the 16th brought him right back into contention. He finished 7-under and admitted he was a little disappointed in missing out on the title. But two under in tough conditions today wasn’t bad. Jason’s next tournament is the Heinekin Classic which begins at Royal Melbourne next Thursday.

Local Kane Streat, a member at Yarra Yarra, dropped one shot on the front nine but picked it up on the back nine and finished six under for the tournament, two shots behind the winner.

Tournament director Peter Mann congratulated all players in the four day event.

“With 14 scratch players, it was the strongest field ever assembled for the Master of the Amateurs and the low scores confirmed their quality”, he said. “Ashley Hall had to defeat a World Champion to take the title which was simply a fantastic effort”, Mr Mann said.