2024 Champions Declan Pereira and Isabella Leniartek
The 43rd NEDLANDS JUNIOR MASTERS was played on Sunday March 3 and Monday March 4, attracting a talented field of 45 boys and 27 girls from around the state.
The history of the Nedlands Junior Masters has been well documented and the names of two new winners will be added to the Honour Board in the downstairs bar. The Board was presented by Ian MacDonald, a long-time sponsor of the Junior Masters.
Our loyal Major Sponsors joined us again this year, SRIXON as naming rights sponsor and RETRAVISION as the major supporting sponsor. We acknowledge with appreciation their continuing support.
Joining the Major Sponsors were our supporting Sponsors, including APC GROUP, PERTH STITCHING, GOLF BOX, COCA COLA AMATIL, BAKERS DELIGHT SUBIACO, WEIR’S BUTCHER BROADWAY. We thank them for their contribution.
FIRST ROUND SUMMARY
The 72 strong field set out on Sunday morning in their quest for the Nedlands Junior Masters titles. Fourteen of those held handicaps of Scratch or better, so some good scoring was expected.
The forecast rain and thunderstorms did not eventuate on Sunday but there was a strong easterly which definitely contributed to higher scores than normal.
Some of the Highlights from Round One were-.
BOYS
Leading the way after Sunday’s first round was Matthew McLaughlin from Royal Fremantle who carded an even par round of 72. He was 3 under after 12 holes but bogeys on the 13th, 17th, and 18th spoilt his final score.
He led from Josiah Edwards from Gosnells who after an up and down day carded a one over par 73 – a double bogey on the 18th cost him the outright first round lead.
Next on two over par 74 were Lakelands player Declan Pereira and Royal Perth’s Spencer Harrison
Wanneroo member Ollie Marsh’s day was spoilt by 4 bogeys in the first six holes of his back nine and he was next on 76.
GIRLS
The girls struggled with the strong breeze and fast greens and the best score came from Mt Lawley’s Madison Ling with a 5 over par 79.
Turning for home Madison was even with the card but the back nine saw 3 bogeys and a Double Bogey on the 15th hole.
Mount Lawley members Isabella Leniartek and Amanda Gan, the 2022 Champion, were next on 6 over par.
A 5 over par final nine was not what Isabella was looking for and Amanda was not helped by 2 double bogeys.
All in all it was not a good day for the girls
FINAL ROUND SUMMARY
Once again gusty easterly breezes followed by an afternoon sea breeze greeted the players. So, it was again going to be a tough day for the players.
In the Boys, it seemed to be a tussle between the top 5 who were paired in the final two groups and in the Girls, the top 3 who were within shot of one another.
BOYS
We will concentrate on the leading 5 players and see how they progressed throughout the afternoon.
Matthew McLaughlin 4 over after front nine with a double bogey on the first hole TOTAL 4 OVER
Josiah Edwards 2 over after front nine TOTAL 3 OVER
Declan Pereira 2 over after front nine TOTAL 4 OVER
Spencer Harrison 2 over after front nine TOTAL 3 OVER
Ollie Marsh 1 over after front nine TOTAL 5 OVER
With 9 holes to play there were 5 players in with a realistic chance of taking the title – all within two shots of each other
So, we tune into the Leaderboard after 32 holes-
Matthew McLaughlin TOTAL 3 OVER
Josiah Edwards TOTAL 4 OVER
Spencer Harrison TOTAL 4 OVER
Ollie Marsh TOTAL 5 OVER
Declan Pereira TOTAL 7 OVER
It looked like a race in 4 with Nedland’s own “AMEN CORNER” left to negotiate.
Matthew McLaughlin made double on the 15th followed by par, bogey, par- 6 OVER
Josiah Edwards made a double after hitting his tee shot OOB on 15 followed by Birdie, Bogey and par – 6 OVER
Spencer Harrison parred the 15th but two bogeys followed on 16 and 17. Par on 18 – 6 OVER
Ollie Marsh simply parred 15, birdied 16 and parred 17 to put him in a winning position A par on 18 would see him take the lead. His third shot finished 4 to 5 feet from the hole and for a man with a great short game it looked like a formality – a miss and a dejected Ollie Marsh – 5 OVER
Then there was the forgotten man, Declan Pereira, who looked out of it with 4 holes to play. Pars on 15 and 16 and a birdie on the 17th saw him 6 over with one hole to play -the number one rated hole on the course.
His second shot went through the green and he calmly knocked the chip in the hole for a birdie and a share of the lead – 5 OVER
PLAY OFF – Hole one – Declan Pereira vs Ollie Marsh
Both players hit reasonable drives but were left of the left hand trap in heavy grass. Declan chipped his through the green and Ollie “chunked” his just short of the green and then chipped it 10 feet past the hole. Declan just made the green with his chip and putted first from 20 feet – in it went leaving Ollie with a10 foot left to right putt to take the play off to a second hole – miss and the 2024 Boys Nedlands Masters Champion is crowned – Declan Pereira.
Declan had come back from the dead over the concluding 4 holes of the Championship.
FINAL LEADERBOARD
Declan Pereira (74,75 = 149), Ollie Marsh (76,73 = 149), Josiah Edwards (73,77 = 150), Spencer Harrison (74,76 = 150), Matthew McLachlin (72 78 = 150)
GIRLS
It looked as though it was a race in three – Madison Ling (79), Isabella Leniartek (80) and Amanda Gan (80).
Once again it was a tough scoring day for the girls
So, after 9 holes the leaderboard looked like this-;
- Isabella Leniartek – 1 over thru 9 and a total of 7 over
- Madison Ling– 3 over thru 9 and a total of 8 over
- Amanda Gan – 6 over thru 9 and a total of 14 over
Over the next 6 holes Amanda Gan had made a comeback and was three shots behind Isabella who increased her lead to 2 shots from Madison. No, the story was not the same as the boys with Isabella calmly making 3 pars, Madison 2 pars and a bogey and Amanda a bogey, a double bogey and a par – Isabella Leniartek is crowned the champion by 3 shots from overnight leader Madison Ling with 2022 Champion Amanda Gan a further shot back in third place.
FINAL LEADERBOARD
Isabella Leniartek (80, 80 = 160), Madison Ling (79,84 = 163), Amanda Gan (80,84 = 164)
Editor’s comments
- Nobody broke par on either of the 2 days
- Our own Luke Bai was the only player in the field who scored better than Nett Par with a 71 in round 2. He finished 3rd overall in the boys nett competition – well done Luke.
- Congratulations to Madison Ling – Overall R/U & Winner Girls 14-15, and Isabelle Ling Nett R/U Girls 16-17. They are both members of Nedlands & Mt Lawley, and made their Grandmother Grace Young very proud.
- There were no Eagles during the 2 rounds.
FINAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The course was presented in excellent condition. Thanks to Brad Hebble and his team for a job well done.
To the two Tournament Directors, Cedric Bell and Marty Morris the club thank you for the amount of time and effort you put into the event each and every year both before and during the event.
Campbell Thomson, Stewart Wharton joined myself on the Rules Committee and were kept on our toes throughout the two days.
Susie Rich and her volunteers are, as always, acknowledged for their support over the 2 days.
Thanks to the Office Staff, Ben Unbehaun and Karen Wilson for assisting the Tournament Directors prior to and during the event.
Sean and his staff together with Zamry in the kitchen contributed to a successful 2 days.
An enjoyable sundowner was held on Sunday evening and we thank the sponsors, Ron Birmingham and CBC and other supporters of the evening, for their contribution to its success.
The Proshop staff, led by Andrew Gott, are acknowledged for their efforts over the two days.
The NEDLANDS JUNIOR MASTERS is over for another year, and we congratulate our two new Champions Declan Pereira and Isabella Leniartek on their performances in testing conditions.
From Greg Fitzhardinge
