I normally talk film on this website but to preserve the memory, I thought I'd post a quick overview of my trip last week to the 2015 Australian Men's Amateur Championship in Sydney. For those who don't know me very well, golf is another of my interests (it can be a lot more frustrating than movies though!)
The event sees the best amateur golfers from around the country compete. There are also international players from countries including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Japan and Korea. To even make the 236 man field, you had to play off a handicap of 0.8 or less.
It was only the 4th time that I've played the event (it's often hard to get time off work) and it was a thrill to get out there and give it a crack. Part of the lure this year was to play two courses that have both hosted the Australian Open in recent years.
I managed to finish tied 132nd with scores of 80-75-155. That isn't too bad for someone who doesn't practice and only plays on weekends these days. It left me 7 shots out of the important 64th place (which got you into the subsequent match play component of the event). I'm not complaining though. To make 6 birdies during my 36 holes was more than I was anticipating. Congratulations to New South Welshman Cameron Davis who went on to claim the trophy.
It's now back to my regular life of work and movies... but I thought I'd share a few photos from the week so that everyone can see how great the game of golf can be!
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| Before I teed it up in the Championship, I pulled some strings to play a social round at New South Wales Golf Club on the Saturday afternoon. It's ranked the 5th best course in the country by Australian Golf Digest. |
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| The tough par 3 6th is the signature hole at New South Wales Golf Club. It's not hard to see why there is a 15 year waiting list to become a member of the Club. |
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| New South Wales Golf Club was the first time I had the chance to play from "links style" bunkers. I started with a double bogey on the short 1st hole but was pretty happy with my round of 75 (3 over). |
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| A practice round at The Lakes Golf Club before the 2015 Australian Men's Amateur. This is the 8th hole where Adam Scott made an albatross in the 2011 Australian Open. |
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| This pretty much explains how The Lakes gets its name. There are 3 par 5s on the back nine and you have to hit over water on every one of them. There is currently no waiting list to join... but that's because you'll need to stump up roughly $30,000 as a one-off joining fee. |
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| Another water carry at The Lakes at the beautiful 14th hole. How often have you played to a green that is 50 metres wide??? I played my best golf at The Lakes during the Championship with 4 birdies in a round of 75 (3 over). A shame about the shank and double bogey on 17th! |
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| We don't quite have these facilities at Brisbane golf clubs! The locker room at The Lakes includes a spa and sauna. |
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| The locker room at The Australian is even better. It features a bar (installed by the late Kerry Packer) for a number of reasons. Someone told me a story about how a player heard his name called out during the presentations while he was in the shower. He promptly walked out nude, accepted the trophy, then went back to finish washing himself. |
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| A look inside the two storey locker room at The Australian. Most visitors wouldn't get to see this "members' only" area but I got the chance thanks to a helpful reciprocal member. |
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| There were plenty of great players in action at the 2015 Australian Men's Amateur including Queensland's Cory Crawford, a member of the Golf Australia national squad. |
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| He may only be 16 years of age but Ryan Ruffels is a ridiculously talented golfer who finished 2nd in the stroke play phase of the event. |
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| The Australian is a brutally long golf course that measures roughly 6,700m off the back tees. I don't think I've played a longer course. During my competitive round, I hit 3 iron into all but one of the par 3s. The only exception was the 4th (where I hit 6-iron because the tees had been moved forward!) |
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| A good friend, Andrew Anderson, caddied for me during the week and he was kind enough to take this great photo off the 5th tee at The Australian during a practice round. |
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| Some have compared The Australian to Augusta and it's easy to see why when you miss the fairways and find the pine straw. I fought hard at The Australian during my competive round but stumbled with a bogey-bogey-double bogey finish for a final score of 80 (8 over). |
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| Having missed out on the match play, I snuck in a quick caddy job for Golf Australia national squad member Lucas Herbert during his first round of match play (thankfully he won). |
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| A look at my scorecard during the 2015 Australian Men's Amateur. A few ups, a few downs. It was fun regardless! |
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