Home advantage proved not quite enough for WA as Queensland ended their title hopes on the final day of the Australian Interstate Teams Matches.
Following two days of play in the round-robin match play contest at Melville Glades Golf Club, WA entered the final day as one of three teams in contention for the combined team title, alongside eastern heavyweights QLD and NSW.
Only a win in their final group match against QLD would have been enough for WA to progress to the afternoon final, but their rivals ultimately had too much quality on the day.
With a talent-packed lineup that includes Australian internationals Hannah Reeves and Billy Dowling, QLD were always likely to be a tough nut to crack. So it proved, as they were quickly out of the traps to establish early leads in six of the eight matches.
Turning losing positions into wins has been a hallmark of the week for WA’s players, however, and with a number of matches finely poised, there was no way WA were going to easily roll over.
Josiah Edwards produced some outrageous up-and-downs in his gripping clash with Billy Dowling
Indeed, it was WA who earned the first point of the day as Isabella Leniartek overcame Grace Rho 3&2 in a high-quality, birdie-filled encounter.
Better was to follow as WA skipper Connor Fewkes dug deep to come from two down against Chase Oberle and win 1UP.
Despite trailing in most of the other matches, WA sniffed a potential upset as Katie Seol, Josiah Edwards, Amie Phobubpa and Spencer Harrison all closed in on their opponents down the stretch.
Edwards, in particular, produced some sensational up-and-downs to reduce Dowling’s four-hole advantage to just one with two holes to play.
Ultimately, it was not to be for WA, though. A combination of Queenslander grit and costly mistakes at crucial times saw WA’s fightback halted as QLD took the tie 6-2 to reach the final and consign WA to a third-place finish.
NSW went on to claim the overall title after defeating QLD 6.5-1.5 in a dominant display in the afternoon final.
WA’s young team impresses
Although they fell short of the title they aspired to, there was much to admire about the WA effort this week, with the average age of the youthful team less than 19.
The QLD loss was their only defeat in five group matches and the players dug deep when it mattered to earn creditable draws against NSW and Victoria – matches they could very easily have lost.
Jess Speechley – one half of the WA state coaching line-up alongside Ollie Goss – was in no doubt that the positives outweighed the negatives.
“This was a very strong week for us. We knew that Queensland was going to be a tough one today, but we started poorly and it was hard to get back into it from there,” she told GolfWA.
“That’s pretty disappointing, but I’m sure the players will learn from it and use the experience to get better. It’s still a very young team, and there are still a lot of things they can do to improve their technique and the mental approach to golf.
“They are a great bunch, who communicate with each other and get on very well. I’m confident they will continue to improve and build momentum for next year’s series.”
Day 3 results
WA vs QLD
Josiah Edwards lost by 1 hole to Billy Dowling
Amie Phobubpa lost 3&2 to Hannah Reeves
Spencer Harrison lost 3&2 to Lincoln Morgan
Amanda Gan lost 3&2 to Shyla Singh
George Barclay lost 3&2 to Wesley Hinton
Katie Seol lost 3&2 to Ionna Muir
Connor Fewkes won 1UP against Chase Oberle
Isabella Leniartek won 3&2 against Grace Rho
Final score: WA 2 – 6 QLD
Final standings
NSW defeated QLD 6.5 – 1.5 in the final.
View all the scores and standings from the event here.
WA team: Adam Baillie; George Barclay; Josiah Edwards; Connor Fewkes; Spencer Harrison; Amanda Gan; Valerie Khuu; Isabella Leniartek; Amie Phobubpa; Katie Seol
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