Kieran Pratt: Going Places

BY Anthony Powter | 25 Jan 2010

With four wins from six starts, Kieran Pratt has already made a name for himself on the Australian Amateur scene this season.

Over the weekend at the Lake Macquarie Amateur there was no stopping Pratt as the 21-year-old finished the championship with a 21-under-par total for a massive eleven stroke victory over Brendan Smith and in the process secured the tournament record previously set at 20-under by Peter O’Malley and Danny Lee.

Pratt’s rounds of 65-71-63-68, with Saturday’s third round 63 equalling the course record set by Jason Day in 2006, was a display peerless golf by one of our most promising emerging amateurs. The magnitude of the winning margin even surprising Pratt.

“I came here thinking that I could win,” remarked Pratt after his final round.

“I never thought that I would win by that much of a margin. My plan was to try and win a few of these events before going overseas later in the year. This is a fantastic result and a very special win for me.”

In becoming the country’s hottest amateur at present, Pratt attributes his recent purple patch run staring with The Dunes Medal last November. He has followed that with wins with the Victorian Medal, the Victorian Amateur Championship and now the Lake Macquarie Amateur.

These victories have been in the making for some time. Pratt was runner-up at the 2007 Victorian Amateur to Leighton Lyle and at the 2008 Riversdale Cup, where he pushed eventual winner, Scott Arnold, to the wire at Riversdale. Last March at the Australian Amateur Championship, Pratt also made it through to the quarter-finals to have his progression at the championship cut short by eventual winner, Scott Arnold, 2&1.

During the last twelve months Pratt has been working hard on his game through the Victorian Institute of Sport, a program which Pratt attributes his recent purple patch run to.

“The discipline and training you get from participating in programs like the VIS is great,” says Pratt.

“I’ve learnt more how to manage my game around the course and my short game has improved tremendously. The last few months with my results that I’ve achieved, I could not have asked for a better way to start the season.”

With a world amateur ranking climbing steadily that has seen Pratt moving from 45th a fortnight ago, to 22nd after the win at the Lake Macquarie Amateur, Pratt’s dominance this season within Australian amateur events is bringing the rewards.

His four wins in total has already equalled Daniel Nisbet’s effort from last season, however, Nisbet did win each of his four titles in succession. That’s not discounting Pratt’s achievements so far this season, which have been nothing short of spectacular. We are sure to be seeing a lot more of Pratt, both locally and internationally as he takes his game to the next level.

That’s the plan for Pratt to move onto the international amateur arena later in the year and make his mark there.

“To head over to play the US events is something I really want to do,” he says.

“Winning events locally obviously adds to your resume and hopefully that will get me some invites in the US. The plan was to play well in the first half of the season in Australia and then go to the US and win some events.”

Pratt’s four wins from six starts has set the season’s benchmark. He’s still has unfinished business to attend in Australia before scheduling his US trip and he’s letting his clubs to the talking.

Eisenhower team selection is certainly not out of the question and Pratt this season has already sent a stern message to National selectors that he should be noticed. It will be interesting to see the selector’s reaction in the coming months and whether any National team places fall Pratt’s way. With these results alone, you would think so.

Kieran Pratt is young, athletic and already possess a school of discipline equal to any seasoned sporting professional. Pratt’s timing could also not have been better with the Australian Amateur schedule gaining full momentum and the Australian Amateur Championship coming up later in March.

It is certainly a case of “watch this space” and it will be interesting to see how Pratt response to the added attention, as this is a young man that is going places.

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