Arnold looks for double at Riversdale
BY Anthony Powter | Australian Mens Amateur Tour | 2009 Riversdale Cup | Preview | 05 Mar 2009
Scott Arnold will look to repeat his performance at this year’s Riversdale Cup, which starts tomorrow, of twelve month’s ago when he won in a play-off from Kieran Pratt of Victoria.
With a win in the Lake Macquarie Amateur in January already to his credit, coupled with strong performances at the NSW Amateur and the recent Tasmanian Open, Arnold starts in this tournament as one of the favourites in international field of 156 contestants which includes players from England, Ireland, Switzerland, New Zealand, Scotland, Korea and and Singapore.
Last year in a display of pure determination and nerve, Arnold and Pratt finished locked together at 15-under-par, after Arnold courageously birdied the last hole, to force the playoff which he won on the first hole.
It was Arnold’s first major Australian amateur title, having won the 2006 Hong Kong Open Amateur. Since his win at Riversdale in 2008, the world’s number 15’s game has gone from strength to strength, to see Arnold claim Australia’s top amateur having taking that honour earlier this month from Matt Jager.
The strength of this year’s international field of 156 players is reflective of the Riversdale Cup’s world tournament ranking of 25 and is Australia’s 4th highest ranked tournament, behind the Australian Amateur, Lake Macquarie Amateur and the NSW Amateur.
With the exception of Matt Giles who is American based, the majority of Australia’s top amateurs and National Squad members are playing this week. Supporting Arnold are Victorian Open Amateur champion Luke Bleumink, New Zealand’s Ben Campbell, Australia’s Juan Carlos Tailhade Cup representatives Brendan Smith and Jason Scrivener, 2008 Federal Amateur champion Matt Jager and 18-year-old Scottish star Fraser Fotheringham.
A number of recent stellar performances by the likes of Ryan McCarthy with winning the Tasmanian Open, Bryden MacPherson’s efforts in making the cut at the Victorian Open and Michael Smyth’s win at the NSW Amateur see these players, along with defending champion Arnold, as strong contenders for this year’s title.
It’s also worth keeping a close eye this week on Daniel Beckmann.
The Victorian knows the tight tree lined Riversdale layout well and is due for a win with his last National Trial title being the Federal Amateur back in 2007.
At last month’s Tasmanian Open, Beckmann fired a course record 65 on the final day to elevate himself to outright fifth finish. His efforts in Tasmania come off a solid finish at the NEC Master of the Amateurs back in January, where Beckmann led the tournament going into the final day, only to miss a play-off with Americans Rickie Fowler and Mark Anderson by a stroke. It’s only a matter of time before Beckmann collects another title and I particularly favour his chances at Riversdale.
Daniel Nisbet is another worth following as well. Australia’s top ranked junior amateur was in the final pairing along with McCarthy at the Tasmanian Open, but a final round 72 damaged Nisbet’s chances for the title and he eventually finished a respectable sixth place. Having recently moved to Melbourne to be based at the Victoria Golf Club, Nisbet is also due to collect his maiden National Trial event title since graduating into the main amateur events.
The Riversdale Cup is an event all our top amateurs want to win. The championship is not only steeped in history, being Australia’s second oldest amateur championship (the first tournament was contested two years after the Australian Amateur was first played in 1894), but recent winners include the likes of Robert Allenby (1990-91), Brendan Jones (1998), Aaron Baddeley (1999) and Michael Sim (2004) and you can see why they all want to have their name on the trophy.
Following Sunday’s third round the cut will fall on the top 50 leading players, plus all internationals, for the final round on Monday.
