On 13th January 2015

Starkey claims 2015 SA Junior Amateur title

Only two days shy of his 18th birthday, Glenelg’s Will Starkey has claimed the 2015 SA Junior Amateur Championship title with a thrilling sudden death playoff win against the ACT’s Josh Armstrong.

Going into the final round today at Blackwood Golf Club with a three shot buffer, Starkey started nervously with a double-bogey seven up the second hole, but steadied the ship with a solid birdie at the 4th hole to go out in two-over par.  However, a disastrous back-nine saw Starkey post three bogeys and two doubles to close out his round with a disappointing nine-over 81.  Playing with Starkey, Armstrong fired a closing 4-over par 76 to force the result into a sudden death playoff.

In sudden death, Starkey found the tight first fairway with 3-wood whilst Armstrong caught trouble in the trees left, chipping back out onto the fairway.  Both players missed the green with their approaches, and after Starkey bladed his chip shot, Armstrong chipped it to five feet, and it looked like another hole would be required.  However, Starkey chipped back on to eight feet and rolled in the slider to keep himself in contention, and when Armstrong missed his five footer, the championship was Starkey’s.

The win is Starkey’s first major tournament victory, and coming so close to his 18th birthday, it is a great way to close out his Junior playing days, and an awesome birthday present. 

“I’ve been working hard on my game over the last 12-18 months and I am finally starting to reap the benefits of all the work I have been putting in” said Starkey after his victory.  “I’d like to thank my parents for supporting me constantly, the Glenelg Golf Club Foundation for the opportunities I’ve been provided with and the pro shop staff, especially my coach Gareth Jones, for his guidance over the past few years.”  Starkey went on to say that “it’s been a great run and the win was an awesome way to cap off my junior career. Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come.”

Fellow Glenelg junior, Lachlan Barker, finished the tournament strongly with a two-over par 74 to finish in a tie for 3rd place at 7-over, whilst Ben Layton also played well with a final round 77 to close out the top 10 positions.  Liam Kennewell finished in 14th place with Jackson Kalz one shot further back in 15th.

2015 Golf SA Junior Amateur Championship Results

Kooyonga & Blackwood Golf Clubs
12th & 13th January 2015

* Will Starkey won on the 1st sudden death playoff hole

Rank Player   R1 R2 R3 Total Strokes
1 William Starkey* Glenelg GC 73 68 81 +6 222
2 Josh Armstrong Gold Creek CC 73 73 76 +6 222
T3 Lachlan Barker Glenelg GC 76 73 74 +7 223
T3 Jakub Gancarz Yowani CC 70 74 79 +7 223
T5 Andre Lautee Rosanna GC 77 75 76 +12 228
T5 Myoung Kim Lakelands GC 79 72 77 +12 228
T7 Joseph Hodgson Kooyonga GC 79 73 79 +15 231
T7 Luke Noble The Vines-Reynella 76 75 80 +15 231
T7 James Mee Royal Queensland 70 77 84 +15 231
T10 Ben Layton Glenelg GC 74 81 77 +16 232
11 Ben Tucker Grange GC 78 76 79 +17 233
T12 Travis Miller Kooyonga GC 80 79 77 +20 236
T12 Kyle Hayter Victor Harbor GC 78 75 83 +20 236
14 Liam Kennewell Glenelg GC 78 81 78 +21 237
T15 Liam Georgiadis Grange GC 79 82 77 +22 238
T15 Jackson Kalz Glenelg GC 76 77 85 +22 238
T15 Conor Bronson Sanctuary Cove CC 78 75 85 +22 238
18 Harrison Burner Grange GC 81 78 80 +23 239
T19 Joel Durnford Booleroo Centre GC 80 79 81 +24 240
T19 Brendan Gao Sanctuary Lakes GC 79 78 83 +24 240
T21 William Arnold Royal Adelaide GC 77 81 83 +25 241
T21 Brodie Whitbread Fleurieu GC 81 77 83 +25 241
23 Michael Coleman Grange GC 80 77 84 +25 241
24 Billy Cawthorne Royal Adelaide GC 79 81 82 +26 242
T25 Matthew Lange Grange GC 82 82 79 +27 243
T25 Jack Thompson Grange GC 76 82 85 +27 243
T25 Dylan Roser Fleurieu GC 82 75 86 +27 243
28 Chen Chen Grange GC 76 80 88 +28 244
29 Frank Vucic Kooyonga GC 84 77 88 +33 249
T30 Ben Polkinghorne Flagstaff Hill GC 78 90 83 +35 251
T30 Marcus Kuys Port Augusta GC 83 84 84 +35 251
T32 Daniel Brown Hills Int G C 86 83 83 +36 252
T32 Elliot Willgoose Echunga GC 80 86 86 +36 252
34 Aaron Buchanan Glenelg GC 90 80 85 +39 255
T35 Oscar Moss Kooyonga GC 88 86 82 +40 256
T35 Jack Tanner Glenelg GC 85 79 92 +40 256
T35 Zachary Bray Flagstaff Hill GC 85 77 94 +40 256
38 Jacob Rillotta Glenelg GC 87 89 82 +42 258
39 Jack Buchanan Glenelg GC 82 87 90 +43 259
40 Casey Schmidt Horsham GC 89 89 86 +48 264
41 Lewis Gebert Horsham GC 86 94 85 +49 265
42 Chase Ballard Port Augusta GC 89 86 96 +55 271

For more information, visit the Golf SA website.