Golf Vic Vol 60 No 3 2019

Kay Bannan, Piper Stubbs (captain), Sheradyn Johnson, Keeley Marx and Tiana Wanigasekera took the title with four points, half a point ahead of Queensland as runner-up. Although they lost to Queensland in the final round, they only needed to extract one point from that match to secure the title. The key to the week was a victory over favourite NSW in the first round, a sensational result highlighted by Sheradyn Johnson’s eagle at the 18th hole to extract a half point from her match at number one against NSW star Belinda Ji, who had finished fourth in the Australian Girls’ Amateur the week before. It set the tone for the week for the Victorians with new VIS head Dean Kinney in the coach’s slot, and 15-year-old Keeley Marx from The Heritage was a stand-out, winning all four of her matches – one of only two players to remain unbeaten for the week. “NSW had the strongest team on paper,” said Kinney. “I thought they’d be difficult to beat but we beat them in the first match, which was incredible. We didn’t speak about winning the whole time. We talked about ‘being your best self’ and making sure you do all the things you can control and the result will come if you do all the right things. That match was a great example of that. They didn’t expect the result, they weren’t scared. They went out and played their game and they played to their potential, which they wouldn’t have done without that mindset.” Marx, a Year Nine student at Yarra Valley Grammar who wants to go to college in America, showed herself as a star of the future with her performance. “I was surprised because the people I was playing, I definitely knew their names,” Marx said. “I wasn’t sure if they knew mine! Just the difference between our games, I never thought I could go undefeated.” Kinney was pleasantly surprised to find the bentgrass greens at Toowoomba to the Victorians’ advantage, and Marx agreed. “We found the course a lot like Victoria with the grass and the bunkers and around the greens. We felt like we had that advantage. A lot of us have been away together, we knew each other, and we kind of clicked from day one. Stubbs, Johnson and Jones all won two matches for Victoria in an even performance, while the Victorian boys won four matches for the week, finishing fourth behind a dominant NSW team. Victorian’s senior male team will go for four on the trot next year but again will have a different look. Blake Collyer, for one, is heading to European Tour school and hopes to be a professional by then after travelling to Europe and the USA for big amateur events over the northern summer. As for Kinney, he took the wins in his stride, saying that winning the Interstate Series was not the end point on his radar. “It’s not a focus,” he said. “That’s an outcome of doing lots of things well. Basically, the best team wins, the most competent team wins. There’s team bonding that’s important but the best team nearly always wins. I would definitely give credit to what (previous VIS coach) Marty Joyce has set up with the VIS athletes and what (VIS assistant) Paul Skinner’s done with the tier-two athletes. I wouldn’t be comfortable taking any credit for that. “It’s not going to be the focus of mine to win Interstates going forward. We will win Interstates because we’re the best team. That’s how I’d rather look at it. I’ll be focussed on the national objective which is producing major champions, that kind of thing. But if you’re getting to that kind of standard, they’re going to win Interstates.” Friday August 9th, 2019 Arrival is 7pm for 7.30pm Arts Centre Melbourne – Pavillion Room Tickets $160 each or $1500 table of ten Early Bird Special until July 12th: $1400 table of ten For all event information and to purchase tickets please contact: Chris Donovan cdonovan@pga.org.au 03 8320 1934 DRESS Evening wear (suit and tie for men) DIETARY Dietary requirements can be accommodated WHEN WHERE TICKETS Golf Victoria 9