Top amateurs fight tight matchplay draw

BY Anthony Powter | Australian Mens Amateur Tour | 2009 Australian Amateur Championship | Preview | 23 Mar 2009

With some of Australia’s best emerging players making the top 32, including, Bryden Macpherson, Daniel Nisbet, Jason Scrivener, Daniel Beckmann, Michael Smyth, Jordan Sherratt and Scott Arnold, this year’s Australian Amateur is shaping up to be one of the most closely fought contests and a perfect prelude as to who will emerge as the next top Australian amateur.

The recent departure of established amateurs to the pro ranks has enabled the next wave of talent to claim the mantle of being Australia’s top amateurs, an honour that was previously held by the likes of Tim Stewart, Matthew Griffin, Michael Foster and Rohan Blizard.

In major amateur championships the match play draw often determines the outcome of the title and with the way the numbers have fallen following yesterday’s Australian Stroke championship, this Australian Amateur is sure to be interesting. Tough first round encounters can often be a sign of what’s to come. Some players thrive on the challenge, others prefer to avoid them like the plague.

A closer inspection of this year’s draw reveals a number of first round matches that could have easily been final round encounters.

One such match is Nisbet versus Macherson.

Both players are emerging from the junior ranks with Macpherson already bagging two National Trial events, with the Dunes Medal and yesterday’s Australian Amateur Stroke Championship. Macpherson’s swing is one of the sweetest around and the 18-year-old has course management skills that are way beyond his years.

Nisbet, also 18, recently move from Queensland to Victoria and is based at the Victoria Golf Club, situated on Melbourne’s famed sand belt region. Like Macpherson, Nisbet is preparing for the next phase of his amateur career after winning virtually everything there was as a junior. For the last three years, Nisbet has qualified for the Australian Open and in 2007 he made it through to the semi-finals of the Australian Amateur at NSW Golf Club, only to be stopped by eventual winner and local Rohan Blizard.

The winner of this encounter will not only be match hardened, they’ll be confident and in match play the state of the mind becomes an invaluable asset.

Scott Arnold arguably has one of the best golfing minds around. Australian’s top ranked amateur at 12th in the world and a winner both locally and on the international stage, Arnold has the game and experience to take this championship.

Arnold meets England’s Adam Wainwright in the first round, an English International ranked 584th in the world with his best international finish a 3rd at the Hamshire Salver (UK). Whilst Arnold should start favourite, Wainwright showed excellent form during the 2008 Riversdale Cup and secured a top-10 finish last year at the 2008 English Amateur. This match promises to be an interesting duel.

Another player currently in top form is Jordan Sherratt. With his confidence on a high after blowing away the field a fortnight ago at the Riversdale Cup and earlier in the week setting a new course record of 65 at Royal Queensland, Sherratt is a constant danger at this championship. The South Australian will meet Scotland’s Fraser Fotheringham, runner up in the 2007 British Boy’s Amateur. This should be another tough opening match, however, the form in which Sherratt has been producing, should see the Australian through.

Jason Scrivener this tournament has been going about his business quietly and finished the fourth qualifier. Scrivener was a medalist at the NSW Amateur earlier in the year, is a former Australian Junior Champion and has an international title already to his credit with the Under 19 New Zealand Championship.

Placed in the upper half of the draw along with Macpherson, Smyth, Nisbet and Beckmann, Scrivener will play fellow Western Australian, Brady Watt in his opening match.

Should Scrivener win his opening two matches today, he’ll set up a possible quarter-final on Tuesday with Beckmann and the winner of that match will be well placed to go onto Wednesday’s 36-hole final.

With Arnold, Smith and Sherratt in the bottom half, it’s a relatively even draw for this Australian Amateur. If anything those in the bottom half may have the easier ride to the final.

The stage is set then for an exciting Australian Amateur as the next wave of emerging Australian talent make their way onto the major amateur stage to claim the highest honour in Australian amateur golf. There’s sure to be early causalities, in events of this nature there always are.

Keep an eye also on New Zealand’s Ryan Fox who played well at the Riversdale Cup and has qualified 17th in the draw. He’ll be looking to ensure the Australian Amateur title remains in foreign hands after Norway’s Anders Kristiansen defeated Michael Foster in last year’s final.