Australian Men's Amateur: A True Test
IN: News | Australian Mens Amateur | Australian Amateur Championship (2008) | Preview | by Anthony Powter | 13 Apr 2008
The Australian Men’s Amateur is one of the world’s toughest amateur championships. Its format, similar to that adopted at the British and US Amateurs, involves 72-hole stroke play, followed by five rounds of elimination match play.
A true test, the Australian Amateur requires a combination of skill, nerve and endurance. The championship rightfully stands inside the top 10 world amateur ranking and one of the most sought after titles since L.A Whyte won the first Australian Amateur in 1894 at Melbourne Golf Club.
“It can be more of a mental, as opposed to a physical, test,” remarked Rohan Blizard, the defending champion.
“But it’s a tournament we all want to win, simply because of what it stands for with its history and its status on the world arena.”
Blizard joins over 250 other hopefuls in Adelaide this week in a stellar field that includes internationals from Europe, Asia and South Africa.
“The Aussie amateur is the event we’ve all been eagerly awaiting as our chance to test ourselves against some of the world’s best,” says Matthew Griffin, winner of the Mandurah Easter Amateur and Eisenhower Cup hopeful.
The opening two rounds rotate between arguably two of the best layouts in the country, The Grange and Royal Adelaide Golf Club. The 36-hole cut of the 100 leading players and ties will battle for the Australian Amateur Medal at the conclusion of Thursday’s stroke round at Royal Adelaide. From there, the leading 32 players qualify for the elimination match play to determine the Australian Amateur champion again at Royal Adelaide this coming Sunday.
Like at last year’s championship at NSW Golf Club, the English Golf Union has sent six members of its ‘Elite Squad’, spearheaded by recent Spanish Amateur champion Daniel Willett (20), and supported by Neil Chaudhuri, a former winner of the Czech Amateur and Dale Whitnall, who finished runner-up in the 2007 French Stroke Play and third in the Russian Amateur.
The last two championship titles have fallen into Australian hands, Rohan Blizard in 2007 and Tim Stewart in 2006. Scotland’s Richie Ramsay in 2005 was the last international to claim the Australian Amateur.
Ramsay has since turned professional, Blizard and Stewart have both remained amateur and will compete this week in Adelaide and lead the Australian charge.
“The Aussie Amateur is such a demanding event and it’s more a survival effort, than anything else,” remarks Stewart, who’s amassed numerous major amateur titles, both locally and around the world, including the 2007 Singapore Amateur, 2007 Riversdale Cup and was runner-up at the 2007 British Amateur.
Stewart has already a major title win this season, the Tasmanian Open, and returns to Adelaide eager to bag his second national title. He certainly has the talent and experience to really press the field this week, in what must be one of his last amateur appearances in Australia. You have to rank him with a strong chance to secure a second title.
“Royal Adelaide is a course where you must play simple golf and just hit fairways and greens,” says Stewart.
Stewart last week was preparing for the championship with fellow national squad members at Moonah Links, during what was aptly named “The Ashes”, against members of the English Elite squad, an event the Australians narrowly claimed from the English.
“Having come off a bit of a break, I feel refresh and ready to give it another shot,” remarked the 2006 champion.
The Australian contingent arriving in Adelaide this week represents a cross section of both experience and youth. Seasoned amateurs including Jamie Arnold, Matthew Griffin, Josh Younger and Michael Foster are set to compete with the next wave of young Australian talent, namely, Jason Scrivener, Daniel Beckann, Matt Jager and Daniel Nisbet.
It promises to be an interesting championship and they are all capable of winning this event, especially Jason Scrivener. The 18-year-old has secured five top-10 national selection trial event finishes, from five starts in his first season in the main amateur ranks and is quickly establishing himself as one of our most promising talents.
“Royal Adelaide is a demanding layout and one of my favourites,” remarked Scrivener. “The greens are relatively small and you have to position your drive well so as to be able to go in aggressively. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Australia’s top ranked amateur and the defending champion, Rohan Blizard, has also exhibited strong performances this season. Aside from a poor last round at the Riversdale Cup in March, Blizard has five top-15 finishes in national events, has underpinned numerous representative teams to international victory and won the NSW Amateur Medal in February.
“My game is there,” says Blizard. “You just have to be patient during the stroke play rounds and get through to the top 32. Then the tournament really starts to get interesting.”
With the recent announcement of Srixon providing valuable sponsorship assistance, this year’s Australian Amateur is going from strength to strength.
Will it be a former winner, an international, or one of the ‘next wave’ players claiming the title? That’s the uniqueness of this year’s event. It will be a true contest against plenty of likely contenders, yet you tend to favour that experience will count and either Stewart or Blizard will certainly be in there with a real chance to gain another title on Sunday.
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