PHOTOS FROM FINAL DAY
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- thanks to Graeme Altmann and Kerrie MacDonald for photos.
Report From Round One:
Royal Perth was presented in magnificent condition – lush fairways and even paced greens. The course setup was fair for all with some of the tees just a little forward and the pin placements varying from the front to the back of the greens. All competitors would have an equal chance to win the 2008 Australian Seniors Amateur Championship.
Playing in the first group of the day NSW senior Stefan Albinski set the pace with a great round of two under par 70. This is the first time Albinski has played in the national title event and he had prepared well with good performances in finishing in fourth place in both the 2008 NSW and 2008 WA Senior Championships.
Trailing Albinski on 71 were American senior Norman Swenson Jr and NSW senior Mark Meares. The 71 from Meares could have been even better as he was four under par with just three holes remaining. A great round from the popular NSW player.
On even par 72 were the evergreen senior from Western Australia Alex Cleave and the winner of the Victorian Senior Order of Merit for the last two years, Ross Percy. Also on even par 72 was the 2001 Australian Seniors champion Bill Banks from NSW. Another American visitor Kemp Richardson recorded a one over par 73, a score he shared with West Australian Mal Roberts. Richardon has vcitories in both the America Seniors Championship and the British Seniors Championship and his participation in the Australian championship was warmly received by all players.
The defending joint 2007 champions Denis Dale and Rick Oliver returned scores of 79 and 75 and they will certainly face a real battle if they are to successfully defend their exciting joint victories of last year when bad light stopped play approaching the green on their third playoff hole.
A surprise score from round one was the 80 from NSW senior star player Brian Sams. Brian has won numerous state senior titles and the week previous he had won the West Australian Senior Championship for the second successive year. Sams is a great player but he will also face a battle after his opening round saw him finish ten strokes off the lead.
A highlight of round one was an eagle on the difficult par four fifth hole by Queenslander Dave Morrison who later birdied the very demanding par four eleventh. Morrison returned 76.
Top 20 players Round One:
70 Stefan ALBINSKI
71 Norman SWENSON Jr, Mark MEARES
72 Alex CLEAVE, Ross PERCY, Bill BANKS
73 Kemp RICHARDSON, Mal ROBERTS
74 Barry SHANNON, Peter KING, Jeff HASTHORPE, Max ROBISON
75 Rick OLIVER, Tony MAZZONE, Ian JACKSON, Ken ROE
76 John STEPHENS, Vern SCOTT, Mike LITIS, Steve CANN, Graham BOWEN, Dave MORRISON, Ron CONNORS
State Team Championship Round One:
Run in conjunction with the Australian Senior Championship is the State Team Championship. Each state can nominate four players with the best three scores to count each day.
NSW had the lead after round one with Bill Banks (72), Rick Oliver (75) , Tony Gresham (78) and Denis Dale (79) returning a total of 225. They had a narrow lead from Queensland and Western Australia on 227, Victoria on 228 and South Australia on 229.
Report From Round Two:
The opening 70 gave Stefan Albinski the round one lead and he made sure he would maintain his lead after the second round with a magnificent three under par 69. His 36-hole total of 5 under par was a record for the event and his outstanding golf has perhaps signalled a new standard for senior golf in Australia.
Alex Cleave improved on his even par 72 from round one to go one better and his one under par total of 143 eventually had him in second place – four stroked behind Albinski.
Ross Percy returned a very tidy 74 to go with his 72. This saw him share third place with American Norman Swenson (71-75) on 146. It was likely that only this pair and Cleave could pose a threat to Albinski on the final day.
Second best round of the day went to Brian Sams who improved ten strokes on his opening 80 to return a two under par 70. Surprisingly he has actually lost ground on the leader and faced an eleven shot deficit with one round remaining.
Mark Meares could not match his opening 71 but his 77 had him on 148 and he was in fifth place with the final round to play. Three time Australian Senior champion Tony Gresham returned to form with a one under par 71 to total 149 a score he shared with Kemp Richardson (73-76).
Queenslander Peter King recorded a solid 76 to go with his round one 74 and he was poised to record his best performance in an Australian Senior championship.
Defending champions Dale and Oliver improved their positions with scores of 74 and 75 but the par breaking golf of Albinksi and Cleave meant that in 2008 neither would be holding the Kerry Packer Trophy that is awarded to the national champion.
A surprising score of the day was the 84 from previous champion Bill Banks. After his opening 72 many fancied the chances of the normally very consistent Banks. The uncertainty of golf!
Top 20 players Round Two:
139 Stefan ALBINSKI
143 Alex CLEAVE
146 Norman SWENSON Jr, Ross PERCY
148 Mark MEARES
149 Kemp RICHARDSON, Anthony GRESHAM
150 Peter KING, Rick OLIVER, Brian SAMS
151 Mal ROBERTS, Barry SHANNON, Max ROBISON, John STEPHENS
152 Tony MAZZONE, Alan EVANS, Ross BOCKMAN, Michael JACKSON
153 Jeff HASTHORPE, Vern SCOTT, Ian READ, Bob GAMSBY, Denis DALE
State Team Championship Round Two:
The NSW team counted scores of 71 for Tony Gresham, 74 for Denis Dale and 75 for Rick Oliver to increase their lead to five shots over the Western Australian team of Graham Bowen (81), Alex Cleave (71), Nigel Goodall (76) and Ian McPherson (76).
In third place was the Victorian team of Michael Jackson (74), David McDonald (77), Ross Percy (74) and Phil Wood (75). These three teams looked ready to battle out the state teams championship on the final day.
Report From Round Three:
All eyes were on the final group of the day – Stefan Albinski, Alex Cleave and Ross Percy as they were expected to fight out he battle for the title. And it proved to be correct.
Percy faced a battle giving Albinski a seven shot lead and this was made even more when he amazingly lost his ball on the short par four 4th hole. His second shot went through the green and could not be found. Percy recovered from this bad luck and finished with a 76 and a share of fifth place - another good performance by the consistent Victorian.
Albinski maintained his straight drives and accurate iron play to record par golf while the elegance and power of Alex Cleave impressed the crowd that followed this leading group. Scores remained very much even but with four holes remaining Cleave had managed to reduce the lead to just two shots. Runner up on several occasions their was strong sentimental support for Cleave but also definite great admiration for Albinski and his par breaking golf.
As the earlier groups finished their rounds the crowd following the final trio increased and with this the pressure on the leading two - Albinski and Cleave.
From the early finishers the equal best round of the day went to Grahame MacDonald (QLD) with a par equalling 72. This great round saw him leap many places and he eventually just made it in the prestigious Top 20 in the 2008 Championship.
MacDonald’s 72 was matched by Tony Gresham and Gresham's total of 221 would see him evemtually share third place with visiting American Norman Swenson Jr who had recorded a final round of 75.
Others to return good scores on the final day were Kemp Richardson with a score of 73 for a total of 222 and a share of fifth place and New Zealander Barry Shannon who fired a solid 73 for a total of 224 and seventh place.
It was great to see international players travel to Perth for the Australian Seniors Championship and with Swenson, Richardson and Shannon filling positions in the top ten it is hoped that more overseas players will follow their lead and compete in future Australian Senior Championships. Hopefully some of the better Australian Seniors will also follow their lead and make the effort required to participate in events with the prestige of the Ameriacan and British Seniors.
Sharing equal eighth place were West Australian Bob Gamsby, whose last round 73 was a very impressive performance, and NSW pair Brian Sams and John Stephens. Sams is accustomed to high finishes in senior tournaments but this was a personal best for Stephens who had travelled with his caravan from NSW as part of a round Australia golfing holiday. Well dome John!
The defending joint champions of 2007 Denis Dale and Rick Oliver finished tied once again. After six rounds and several play off holes this pair are still tied and look forward to renewing their battle when the Championship moves to Queensland in 2009 (Bribie Island Golf CClub is the likely venue).
While the latter groups finished their rounds the battle on the course for outright champion continued. Albinski missed the green at 15 but chipped close to secure a par and he held a two shot lead with just three holes remaining.
Both players drove well on the tight 16th hole with Albinski first to play to the green. With the crowd increasing and the pressure likewise he played one of his best shots of the tournament to just six feet from the hole. Cleave had to match his shot to have a chance and he understandably attacked the hole.
His shot drifted left, took a bad bounce from the edge of the green and he was left with a very difficult “up and down”. When he tapped in for a double bogey six the championship was just about over although Albinksi did miss his short birdie putt.
Safe pars at the 17th by both players meant Albinski stood on the 18th tee with a four shot lead, the same lead he had at the commencement of play. Both players safely parred the final hole and the championship belonged to a very happy and proud Albinksi. His score of four under par is a championship record that will prove hard to match in the following years. For Cleave it was another runner up trophy – perhaps next year Alex!
Top 20 2008 Australian Senior Championship:
1. 212 Stefan ALBINSKI
2. 216 Alex CLEAVE
3. 221 Anthony GRESHAM, Norman SWENSON Jr
5. 222 Kemp RICHARDSON, Ross PERCY
7. 224 Barry SHANNON
8. 226 Bob GAMSBY, John STEPHENS, Brian SAMS
11. 227 Denis DALE, Ross BOCKMAN, Mal ROBERTS, Rick OLIVER, Mark MEARES
16. 228 Ian MCPHERSON
17. 229 G. MACDONALD, N. GOODALL, I. READ, T. MAZZONE, A. EVANS, M. JACKSON
State Team Championship Round Three:
NSW had led from round one and with final round scores of 72 from Tony Gresham, 74 from Denis Dale and 77 from Rick Oliver it looked like a comfortable win for NSW.
However, Western Australia played it right to the finish and with Alex Cleave’s 73 matched by Bob Gamsby and Nigel Goodal returning a 74 the final margin was just two shots for the NSW team who thereby retained the State Teams Champions title they had shared with Victoria in 2007.
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