SA Amateur Classic: Change is in the Air
BY Anthony Powter | Australian Mens Amateur Tour | 2009 Golf SA Amateur Classic | Preview | 15 Apr 2009
Golf SA has taken a bold move in an attempt to re-shape its premier amateur event with a number of initiatives aimed at bolstering the tournaments presence over the coming years.
The changes include making the event an open, as opposed to being an invitational tournament, forging ties with the Singapore Golf Association to attract main players from the region and ensuring the events is played on premium golf layouts.
Formerly know as the SAGA Invitational, the Golf South Australia Amateur Classic gets underway tomorrow at Royal Adelaide Golf Club, venue of last year’s World Amateur Team Championships and arguably one of the nation’s finest courses.
The 72-hole stroke event has attracted many of Australia’s top ranked amateurs making their return from last week’s Mandurah Easter Amateur. The invitational status has been dropped and the 48 strong field will play the National Ranking event as they strive to be the first name on the new John Crosby Trophy.
Daniel Beckmann will be seeking to make it two wins in a row following his victory last week at Mandurah Easter Amateur. This season the ever-consistent Beckmann has not finished outside the top-10 in National Trial events and was runner up to Scott Arnold at the Australian Amateur last month and is the inform player at present.
Confident and poised by his recent achievements, Beckmann will surely start one of the tournament’s favourites.
Jason Scrivener, winner of the Western Australian Amateur a fortnight ago and the highest ranked amateur at 31st in the world is also entered and should feature strongly, as should local player, Jordan Sherratt, runaway winner of the Riversdale Cup back in March.
The tournament’s line up also includes talented Victorian, Bryden Macpherson, winner of the 2008 Dunes Medal, former Australian Junior Champion, Daniel Nisbet, Brody Ninyette who led the Mandurah Easter Amateur after the opening round and Kalem Richardson who has featured strongly of late.
Representative duties for Golf Australia sees Scott Arnold, Matt Jager, Ryan McCarthy and Brendan Smith competing in the Southern Cross Cup at Wairakei International Golf Course in Taupo, New Zealand, which also starts tomorrow.
Whilst their absence from the South Australia Amateur Classic will be felt, the tournament still promises to shape up to be an interesting affair.
With Nisbet eager to claim his maiden National Trial title and the recent stellar form being shown by Beckmann and Scrivener, not to mention Sherratt’s capacity to take a tournament wire to wire like he did at Riversdale, the South Australia Amateur Classic is set to unfold into an interesting encounter between a number of Australia’s most promising emerging amateurs.
Last year the event was combined with the Australian Amateur Stroke title where England’s Daniel Willett fired a closing 3-under-par, 70, at Royal Adelaide to finish the championship at 6-under-par.
Rick Kulacz, currently playing the Asian Tour, won the invitational event back in 2007 for his second title after winning in 2005. Former champions of the title include Stuart Appleby (1992), Paul Sheehan (1997), Brett Rumford (1996) and Greg Chalmers (1994).
The cut will be determined after 36 holes on Friday, with the leading 30 players plus ties playing the weekend.
