IT was a great week for the Australasians at the R&A Senior Amateur Championships in England with Nadene Gole just falling short of becoming the first Aussie to win the women’s title while New Zealand’s Brent Paterson won the senior men’s title.
No Australian has ever won the men’s or women’s R&A Senior Amateur Championships and things were looking very promising early on with Newcastle Golf Club’s Ken Brewer taking the early clubhouse lead with a first round 3-under 70 and reigning Australian Women’s Senior Amateur champion Sue Wooster leading the world’s best women by one shot in the 1st round after a level par 73.
Unfortunately Brewer, who was making his third attempt at the iconic senior amateur championship and arrived in the UK in solid form having already won the NSW Senior Classic and the National Senior Masters this year, bombed out in the second round.
The 63 year old found trouble on the back nine and missed the second round cut. Kiwi Paterson led the men and England’s Jackie Foster the women going into the third and final round.
Trying to become the first Australian to win the title, Gole made a spectacular start to the last day at the Woodhall Spa Golf Club in Lincolnshire, holing her six-iron second shot for eagle at the opening hole to wipe out the two-shot deficit she carried after the third round.
The Victorian took the lead early in the front nine but Foster wasn’t to be denied, with her steadier play on the back nine eventually leading to a two-shot win after both players recorded rounds of 3-over 76.
Gole shared second with England’s Emma Brown who closed with a 73, while Australia’s Sue Wooster dropped to a share of seventh after a final round of 83.
“Surreal” says Paterson
Paterson said securing the title was “surreal” while Foster said it was “beyond my wildest dreams.”
Paterson won by five shots over Englishman John Kemp after the Kiwi finished on a total of eight-under-par 283 thanks to rounds of 73, 69, 68 and a closing 73.
Foster bettered Australian Nadene Gole and fellow Englishwoman Emma Brown by two shots with a six-over-par tally of 297 (76, 73, 72 and 76).
With both championships played concurrently for the first time at Royal Dornoch 12 months ago, the English venue was the setting for both this year as Paterson entered the golf history books.
The 62-year-old Royal Auckland and Grange Golf Club member is the first New Zealander to win the prestigious trophy since the inaugural 1969 championship. Foster added the women’s trophy to consecutive wins in the 2016 and 2017 English Senior Amateur Championship.
Paterson was also making his championship debut. “It’s crazy,” he said. “I played with some good golfers this week but I like being in that white hot competition. It’s just really exciting. You don’t get many of these chances in your life to win big events like this.”
Wife, Susan, was caddying for him for only the fourth time. “It was such a great thrill for both of us,” he added. “I’ve met quite a number of the members and the whole town has a lovely feel to it. We’ve loved being here and for us to win makes it extra special.”
Paterson joins the great Sir Bob Charles as an R&A winner. The left-hander won The Open in 1963, the only New Zealander to win the Claret Jug.
“I played with him this year in the New Zealand Seniors,” Paterson said. “I was playing very well and he asked me how old I was. I told him 62, and he said, ‘Too bad, you’re too old for the Tour.’ It was a great compliment, so for me to join him as an R&A champion is a bit surreal.
“So many good friends advised me to come and play this and I’m glad I did. I’m here now and I’ve got the trophy.”
Foster didn’t have as far to travel as Paterson. A member of Bishop Stortford Golf Club in Hertfordshire, she never dreamt when traveling the 113 miles to Woodhall Spa she would be standing with the trophy at the end of the week.
“It’s amazing,” the 59-year-old said. “My aim really for the week was to make the first cut, and then to do well enough to make the second cut. I’m thrilled. I can’t believe it. It’s beyond my wildest dreams.”
Foster went head-to-head in the final round with Gole, the number one senior player on the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®) at 244th. She led Gole by two at the start of the day. That lead evaporated on the opening hole. Lying 150 yards from the flag, the Australian’s 6-iron approach found the bottom of the cup for an eagle.
“At the start of the day, I thought to myself ‘I’ve had three good rounds so far, am I going to be able to keep it going for another round?’” retired policewoman Foster said. “I was steady over the front nine, going out in level par. I knew where I was against Nadene but at halfway my husband Ian, who caddied for me, said there was quite a gap between us and the rest of the field. So it was just a case of keep trying to make pars.
“I got really edgy at the end but it’s hard to win. This achievement has to be at the top of what I’ve done in golf. Four rounds over two tough golf courses is hard so to win is almost unbelievable. And to do it here is extra special.”
Extra special because Foster is a country member of Woodhall Spa. As for Paterson, he can’t wait to return next year for his second tilt at the Senior Amateur.