Round 3 Report
In a day of drama and one of the most exciting finishes ever seen in an Australian Senior Amateur championship Stefan Albinski (69-74-71) has won the 2010 title by a single stroke from visiting American Kemp Richardson (73-75-67).
Teeing off for the final round Albinski had a commanding 4 stroke lead over Roy Vandersluis (NSW) and 5 strokes over the visiting American. Any thoughts of a comfortable day were soon dashed when Richardson played the opening nine holes in four under par. To his credit Albinski also broke par turning in one under to now hold a two stroke lead.
After matching pars on ten Albinski birdied the short par four eleventh from 15 feet and watched as Richardson missed his birdie from a little under 4 feet. The lead was back to three and stayed that way until Albinski double bogied 14 after a wild second shot that just stayed in bounds. Richardson three putted for a bogey but the lead was now just one!
Those who watched 15 will never forget it. Both players drove well on the reachable par 5 with Albinski just in the rough. His 3-wood veered sharply off line and too high, hit the largest pine not far in front of him and bounced deeper into the trees with no apparent recovery shot. The attempted recovery cracked loudly into another tree and Albinski lay three, 150 metres away and still blocked by dense pine trees. Richardson hit the green and had a gettable eagle putt. A huge swing looked certain.
Faced with a near impossible shot Albinski bravely went for a rolling hooked 7 iron that had to bend at least 30 metres. The crowd watched in disbelief as the ball sailed through the gap, hooked sharply, found the front edge of the green and ran towards the hole. It actually ran over the lip before stopping just two feet away. The only word was unbelievable! What a par!
Richardson was not over awed and his beautifully stroked eagle putt narrowly missed and left a tap in birdie. This narrowed the gap to a single stroke. Richardson wasn't finished and launched a huge drive down 16, approached beautifully and holed from 12 feet for a birdie. Albinski matched every shot and then holed a pressure putt from even closer for his own birdie. Still a single stroke in it and this stayed the same when both players parred 17. One hole to go - the testing long par 5 up the hill at Royal Canberra.
Both players drove straight and chose to lay up short of the cross bunkers. Richardson wedged to 8 feet with Albinski perhaps twice that distance away and with the first putt - it looked a perfect putt but ran a couple of feet past the hole. It all rested on Richardson's putt. Even the kangaroos held their breath. The putt failed and Albinski holed out to once again be the champion. What a day! Richardson had fired a 5 under par 67, Albinski a one under 71. Great play from the best two players in the field.
Third place went to Victorian Chris Tatt (70-79-71) who broke par on the first and last day but sandwiched these two rounds with a 79. A great ball striker Tatt is sure to win a major senior event in the near future. Local Royal Canberra player and a popular pick for this event before play began, Bill Banks took out fourth place with rounds of 75-76-72. A previous winner of this title in 2000 Banks shows no sign of slipping in form as he moves into the over 65 category.
Fifth place went to NSW player Roy Vandersluis (71-76-77). Vandersluis now has the very imposing record of a top 5 finish in all four events he has played in the current senior ranking year. He was one of only four players who managed an under par round on the testing Royal Canberra layout. Michael Jackson (77-72-76) from Victoria filled the sixth position and also won the over 65 age category. Jackson is another player who refuses to lose his majestic long and fluent swing as the years creep on by.
ACT player Rod Boyd impressed with his seventh place finish and the recent winner of the WA Melville Glades Classic Ian McPherson did the same with another high placed finish in equal seventh place. Three time winner Tony Gresham once again showed the younger players what he can do with his ninth place finish. Gresham will be 70 when the 2011 event is played in South Australia and will still be a player to watch (especially as a danger to another veteran senior star - 74 year old Geoff Everett who took out the over 70 division this year with scores of 76-75-81).
The Top 10 was rounded out by Queenslander Don Box (79-77-72) and NSW and Australian senior representative Greg Corben (77-75-76). These two players finished in a tied for tenth place.
Defending champion and three time winner Rodney Barltrop (New Zealand) had a disappointing event with scores of 83-78-75.
The Top 10 Individual Scores:
214 ALBINSKI Stefan 69 74 71 NSW
215 RICHARDSON Kemp 73 75 67 USA
220 TATT Chris 70 79 71 Vic
223 BANKS Bill 75 76 72 ACT
224 VANDERSLUIS Roy 71 76 77 NSW
225 JACKSON Michael 77 72 76 Vic
226 BOYD Rod 75 75 76 ACT, MCPHERSON Ian 74 76 76 WA
227 GRESHAM Anthony 77 74 76 NSW
228 BOX Donald 79 77 72 Qld, CORBEN Greg 77 75 76 NSW
The interstate teams event was another close finish with the Victorian team hanging on for a two stroke victory over the NSW team. A single stroke further away was the local ACT team made up of players from the Royal Canberra club. Click here for the teams and the full scores in the 2010 Interstate Teams Event.
Interstate Teams Championhsip:
675 Victoria
677 New South Wales
678 ACT
685 Western Australia
700 Queensland
707 South Australia
Round 2 Report
Following a steady round of two over par 74 Stefan Albinski has increased his one shot overnight lead in the championship to four strokes. It goes without saying he is a clear favourite to win his second title.
NSW Roy Vandersluis holds down second after following his opening 71 with a 75. Vandersluis is playing great golf and has putted for 32 birdies in 36 holes with very little success. If his putter runs hot tomorrow he can certainly challenge Albinski.
American Kemp Richardson (73-75) is also a definite threat, especially if he can get off to a good start. Today he started poorly with a double bogey and then bogied the next two. Like he did in round one he then knuckled down and played strongly to finish with a round of 75.
Victorian Chris Tatt fell away after a disappointing round of 79 and it would take something really special to make up the six shot deficit he now faces. He has the game but is another who needs a hot putter.
The interstate teams event is set for an exciting finish. The strong Victorian team currently hold a four stroke lead over the ACT and NSW teams. Not too far away is the West Australian team with the defending 2009 champions Queensland now too many shots behind to retain their title.
451 Victoria
455 ACT, New South Wales
461 Western Australia
467 Queensland
476 South Australia
Leading 36 Hole Scores:
143 ALBINSKI Stefan
147 VANDERSLUIS Roy
148 RICHARDSON Kemp
149 BOCKMAN Ross, JACKSON Michael, TATT Chris
150 BOYD Rod, MCPHERSON Ian
151 BAIN Ross, BANKS Bill, GRESHAM Anthony
Round 1 Report
Australia's top ranked senior golfer Stefan Albinski leads after the first round of the 2010 Australian Seniors Amateur Championship being played at Royal Canberra.
Albinski returned a bogey free round of 69 - three under par on a testing Royal Canberra layout. Clearly Albinski will be very hard to best now that he has the lead and is obviously playing very well on one of his favourite courses.
Second place belongs to Victorian Chris Tatt who was 5 under par after 10 holes before dropping a few to finish on 70. He is one stroke ahead of Roy Vandersluis who was the other player to break par with his excellent round of 71.
Local ACT player Ross Bain is fourth after an even par 72. Visiting American Kemp Richardson is next on 73 - a round that started with 4 three putt greens in his first seven holes. When he found the pace and line of the Royal Canberra greens he soon showed what a class player he is with a three under par final nine.
Defending champion Rodney Barltrop (NZ) had a very uncharacteristic poor round and his opening 83 has already placed him out of the race for a record fourth title.
The Senior Interstate Teams Championship is played in conjunction with this event and after the opening round there is only a handful of strokes between most of the teams. Each team has four players and the best three scores count.
225 Victoria
227 ACT, Western Australia
230 Queensland, New South Wales
238 South Australia
Leading Scores:
69 ALBINSKI Stefan
70 TATT Chris
71 VANDERSLUIS Roy
72 BAIN Ross
73 RICHARDSON Kemp
74 STILL Robert, MCPHERSON Ian
75 BUCKLEY Alan, GOODALL Nigel, BANKS Bill, OLIVER Les, BOYD Rod, CAMPBELL John
