WA secured a third-place finish at the Interstate Teams Matches after a convincing win over South Australia to round out the week.
Despite home advantage at Glenelg Golf Club, South Australia were outplayed by the resilient WA team, who ran out 5.5-2.5 winners in the round-robin match play contest.
The victory was enough to see WA pip their rivals to bronze position with three wins and two losses from their five group matches.
It represented a positive bounce-back for the black-and-golds, who had lost both their opening matches to event favourites Victoria and NSW on a challenging start to the competition on Tuesday.
Wednesday was a better day for WA, with a hard-fought 5.5 – 2.5 win over Queensland, spearheaded by Josiah Edwards‘ magnificent 3&2 victory over the highly regarded Billy Dowling.
A comfortable win over Tasmania in the afternoon match left WA level with SA on two points from four matches heading into their final-day clash, which WA duly won thanks to points from Adam Baillie, Kortni Houston, George Barclay, Spencer Harrison and Amanda Gan, along with a half for Edwards.
It saw WA claim a creditable rostrum finish, just a half-point behind runners-up NSW. Victoria clinched the overall title after beating NSW 6-2 in the afternoon final.
Counting the positives
After the chastening first day, the spirit WA’s golfers showed to win all three of their remaining matches and secure third place
“Day 1 aside, it was a very positive week,” said Kulacz. “We were well beaten by Victoria, but had our chances against NSW before they showed their class late on to win all the tight matches.
“To bounce back from that so convincingly was great to see, and the attitude of the group was always positive.
“In the end, it was maybe a ‘what-could-have-been’ sort of week, but our players will learn a heap and push on to become better in the long run.”
All 10 members of the WA team contributed points over the course of the tournament, with Amanda Gan and Kortni Houston particularly impressive, each returning 100% winning records from their four matches.
Kortni Houston enjoyed an impressive event debut, winning all four of her individual matches
The overall result matches the third place achieved by WA in last month’s Junior Interstate Series.
WA’s Interstate Series results
Lost 6.5-1.5 to Victoria
Lost 5-3 to NSW
Won 5.5-2.5 over QLD
Won 6.5-1.5 over Tasmania
Won 5.5-2.5 over SA
Final standings (after 5 round-robin matches)
| Pts | Individual matches W/L | |
| 1. Victoria | 5 | 29.5 – 10.5 |
| 2. NSW | 3.5 | 22-18 |
| 3. WA | 3 | 22-18 |
| 4. SA | 2 | 20-20 |
| 5. QLD | 1.5 | 19.5 – 20.5 |
| 6. Tasmania | 0 | 7-33 |
Victoria defeated NSW 6-2 in the final playoff.
View all the results from the week here.
WA team
Women: Amanda Gan (Royal Fremantle); Kortni Houston (Lakelands); Valerie Khuu (Mount Lawley); Amie Phobubpa (Joondalup); Katie Seol (Cottesloe)
Men: Adam Baillie (The Vines); George Barclay (Joondalup); Josiah Edwards (Gosnells); Spencer Harrison (Royal Perth); Nate Johnson (Joondalup)
Coaches: Jess Speechley; Ollie Goss
HP Manager: Rick Kulacz
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