Golf Vic Vol 60 No 1

From 11 shots off the pace, Kemp went to lunch just four behind Kaufman and two behind Boutier and Oh. By the time the leaders had played five holes, she was just one shot behind. Kemp would finish equal second, a wonderful start to her season after last year moving to the LET when she lost her full rights on the LPGA. She followed her Vic Open form with another top-10 finish in the Women’s Australian Open, her fortnight guaranteeing her return to the US for the rest of the year. Also tied for second at 13th Beach were Englishwoman Charlotte Thomas, who will rue the last gruelling hour on Saturday evening when she dropped five shots in her last five holes, and Victorian Su Oh. Oh dropped four shots in the first four holes on Sunday. She hit just five fairways for the round and couldn’t buy a putt (she had 32). To hang in and finish just two shots from victory without her A-game was a tribute to her pluck. Overnight leader Kaufman had even more trouble with the greens. She had 35 putts on Sunday despite a birdie on the opening hole. Her game unravelled on what should have been the easiest hole on the course – the short, downwind, par-five fifth, where a cracking second shot ran up to the pin … and kept running under a tree at the back. From there, a duffed chip, three putts, a double- bogey seven and confidence shattered. Kaufman, though, was a welcome visitor and a vocal spruiker of the qualities and equality of the Vic Open, taking to social media to chide some of the bigger names for failing to attend and volunteering to campaign for more to come next year. She also played the shot of the tournament – slam-dunking her bunker shot for birdie on the par-three seventh hole on Saturday, while others around her were tormented by this little devil of a hole. A perfect storm was created by the combination of a pin-placement barely three metres from the edge of a cliff on the left of the green, a gale-force wind blowing in that very direction, and the occasional bursts of biting rain. Just 104 metres from both men’s and women’s tees, the hole averaged more than 3.5 shots including 16 bogeys, seven double bogeys and six triples or worse by the men, and 21 bogeys, five doubles and five triples or worse by the women. The hole, and the wind, were the main reasons why Saturday’s round took more than five and a half hours. Sunny skies on Sunday saw the finals groups negotiate their way in just over four hours, even given the tension. Although if Celine Boutier was tense, there were no outward signs. The demure Frenchwoman showed barely a flicker of difference after birdie or bogey all week and overcame two early bogeys for a final round even-par 72 and the comfort of a two-putt par on the last for a two-shot win. The 25-year-old, who has an Australian connection through swing coach Cameron McCormick, came into the Open a proven winner. She is a former world number one amateur, whose wins included the 2015 British Ladies Amateur. She had won twice on the LET and twice on the Symetra Tour. The Open saw her world ranking tumble from 122 to 90 and she followed with another solid weekend at the Women’s Australian Open, closing with a five-under 67 and a tie for 22nd. The Vic Open won’t be her last win, which brings to mind the slogan which carried the state Open through many of the turbulent years before its return to prominence. Breakthrough wins in 2019 for Boutier and Law prove that the Vic Open still is the tournament where stars are born. Kim Kaufman provided high drama throughout the Open. The seventh was a devil of a hole. But Katherine Kirk managed to make par from the bunker. Sarah Kemp was out early on Sunday and set-up the rest of her year. Nelly Korda created more world ‘cut-through’ for Australian golf. 8 Golf Victoria