Watt Victorious at Lake Macquarie Am!

BY Anthony Powter | Australian Mens Amateur Tour | 2011 Lake Macquarie Amateur | Wrap | 23 Jan 2011

It was a classic case of holding one’s composure and Brady Watt did exactly that on his way to a four stoke win at the 2011 Lake Macquarie Amateur which was battled over a wind swept Belmont Golf Club layout, south of Newcastle during today’s final round.

Watt, New Zealand’s Ben Campbell and South Australian Anthony Murdaca had shared the overnight lead with a score of 10-under-par, yet it was the Western Australian Watt who held his nerve during the closing stages of this tournament to record a final round 2-under-par, 70, and in the process record his maiden amateur National ranking win against a world class amateur field.

Watt fired rounds of 68-69-69-70 to record a 12-under-par total, four strokes ahead of Anthony Murdaca and young gun Cameron Smith. Ben Campbell, Jake Higginbottom finished in a tie for 4th position at 6-under-par, with Ryan Fox and Jarrod Freeman in a tie for 6th at 5-under-par.

Campbell, a prodigious talent at just 19-years of age, faded over the closing nine holes to record a disappointing 4-over-par, 76, and in the process dash another chance of claiming a main Australian amateur title after also being in contention last week at the Australian Master of the Amateurs.

The New Zealander was not alone in the self implosion stakes with England’s Andrew Sullivan also dropping four strokes in the challenging conditions to fall back into a tie for 8th and eight stokes from the leader after starting the round two behind.

Sullivan misjudged the back pin on the first by flying the green to record an opening bogey and never really got his game on song from there. The Englishman, who’s recorded multiple wins in the UK and internationally, is a player who wears his pride on his sleeve. The world number 23 continued to grind out the rest of his round despite never having his putter working.

It will be interesting to see how Sullivan rebounds this week at the NSW Amateur Championship that sees the final rounds being held at the majestic NSW Golf Club. The strong English team with Tom Lewis, Laurie Canter, Darren Wright and Stiggy Hodgson all recorded top-20 finishes at Belmont to set the stage for another challenge at the NSW Amateur championship title that starts Tuesday at Liverpool and Cumberland Golf Clubs in Sydney.

Full credit must go to the gutsy and disciplined performance posted by Watt as he held his composure and retained his focus when others faulted during the final stages of the championship round.

The wind blew hard all afternoon and revealed the Belmont layout has teeth. Many of our top amateurs struggled in the wind, their irons and tee shots ballooning and falling short of their intended targets. Simply put, most were taught a lesson in links style golf and that there is more to this wonderful game than just bombing the ball out there to flop a wedge into a green when conditions are still. Most needed a lesson in the art of the low boring punch shot that holds an exposed green and the range beckons for most.

Only fifteen players recorded a sub-par final round and scores in the high 70’s were the norm. Today’s final round proved an invaluable lesson that length is not everything and the art of shaping shots and feeding the ball into to green is still required to secure a championship title.

Watt, however, was the exception and his result reflected such. He played majestic golf and put some thought into his shots.

“I played smart all week and it paid off on the par 5’s,” said Watt after his final round.

“Today, I was able to par the toughies out there that I needed to and managed to just hold it together. This is all new to me and I loved the atmosphere out there. I got lucky on 15 after I missed the driver and then managed to sink a 50 footer for birdie and that really was a bonus for me. It then led to another birdie on 16 and effectively put me into a position to win this tournament.”

Watt was finalist at the Perth City open last year and reached the quarter-finals of the 2010 Western Australian Amateur. The win at this Lake Macquarie Amateur certainly goes down as his finest achievement to date within the amateur ranks, however, he’s not getting too carried away with today’s achievement.

“I’m just taking one step at a time for me,” says Watt regarding the victory.

“It’s just amazing to get a win against a field like this. It’s really exciting and gives me plenty of confidence going into the other main National events.”

Another emerging player from Western Australia, Watt’s world ranking following today’s win jumped from 526th to 201st in the world amateur rankings under the Scratch Players ranking. It was a win that was richly deserved following a display of stellar golf over four solid rounds around Belmont.

For the present, Watt is savouring his win with the Lake Macquarie Amateur, a title that is rich in history. The feeling was still settling in as he answered phone calls and text messages from back home.

His name goes alongside the list of former winners which is impressive. Most are currently playing on the Japanese, European or USPGA Tours and includes the likes of Peter O’Malley (1986), Stephen Leaney (1992), Geoff Ogilvy (1997), Brett Rumford (1998), Nick Dougherty (2001), Chris Campbell (2002), Jarrod Lyle (2003-4), Marc Leishman (2005) and more recently, Danny Lee (2008), Scott Arnold (2009) and Kieran Pratt (2010).