Holman’s 62 leads Riversdale
BY Anthony Powter | Australian Mens Amateur Tour | 2011 Riversdale Cup | Round One | 12 Mar 2011
Nathan Holman fired a blistering 10-under-par 62 to take the lead at the Riversdale Cup in Melbourne and in the process equalled the course record set by Daniel Beckmann in 2009.
Holman’s stellar opening round has the Victorian four ahead of his nearest rivals, Travis Sharpe and Chris Brown after the pair opened with rounds of 6-under-par 66.
Matt Stieger’s excellent form continues with the 2011 Tasmanian Open champion in a tie for 4th with a 5-under-par 67 along with Todd Sinnott.
Stieger’s game continues to go from strength to strength and with the recent promotion to the Australian National squad, he’ll be eager to put in another strong showing at a National Selection event.
Fraser Wilkin from New Zealand in is 6th at 4-under-par, opening with a 68 to be with his fellow countryman, Mathew Perry.
Following the first day all the talk was centred around another course record being set and what Holman would produce in his second round.
Holman is off a top-10 finish at the Master of the Amateurs back in January at Royal Melbourne and currently sits outside the top-500 in the world amateur ranking. World ranking aside, Holman has been one of the more consistent Australian amateur players this season with top-10 finishes including the Port Phillip Amateur, Northern Territory Open, Boroondara Cup, the Dunes Medal and at the 2009 Portsea Open Amateur.
Holman’s opening round of 10-under-par was certainly impressive, but National selection events take on a different meaning and with the high quality of the field playing Riversdale this week, Holman certainly has the chance to make his mark when the pressure comes as this event unfolds.
Much will depend how well he can hold it together over the next three days as the Riversdale Cup field is littered with the best from Australia and New Zealand, along with some internationals. Challenges are sure to follow, even with a four stroke buffer which Holman currently enjoys.
Jin Jeong is defending his title and the highest ranked world amateur opened with a 1-over-par 73 and will need to complete a sub-par second round to challenge in this tournament. Brett Drewitt and Brady Watt continue to play solid golf with Drewitt opening with a 3-under-par 69 and Watt with a 1-under-par 70. Daniel Bringolf and Ryan Fox continue to play well, as does Ben Campbell.
Tim Hart, winner last week in Canberra at the Federal Amateur, opened with a 2-under-par 70 and will be looking for another impressive finish in a main amateur event especially a tournament like the Riversdale Cup, considered by many as the one of the premier events on the Australian calendar.
The Riversdale Cup 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 with former winners like Robert Allenby (1990-91), Brendan Jones (1998), Aaron Baddeley (1999) and Michael Sim (2004), Scott Arnold (2008) and Jordan Sherratt (2009), you can see why the Riversdale Cup is one everyone wants to get
