With James Lavender and Sue Wooster to the fore, Australia enjoyed a clean sweep of all four titles at the 2023 Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Senior Championships.
As well as claiming the men’s and women’s individual titles respectively, Lavender and Wooster were instrumental in the successes of the Australian men’s and women’s teams.
While Lavender was pushed hard by two former champions before completing a nerve-tingling wire-to-wire victory, Wooster was able to enjoy a relatively stress-free stroll at Vinpearl Golf Nam Hoi An.
Lavender followed up earlier rounds of 68 and 72 with a closing 76. A tap-in bogey on 18 was good enough to secure him the title – and an exemption into the 2024 R&A Senior Amateur.
With a three-day total of even-par 216, Lavender ended one stroke ahead of compatriot Greg Rhodes, last year’s winner, and New Zealander Stuart Duff, the 2019 champion.
But it was far from plain sailing for 62-year-old Lavender, who spent an hour at the range following Wednesday’s second round ironing out a flaw in his swing.
“I was having an issue with my short irons going left and it became a bit stressful on the back nine. In the end that was a little tense and I’m just pleased to end up winning. It’s been an amazing year for me,” said Lavender, whose Vietnam triumph completes a magical year during which he retained his Australian Senior Amateur title, won the Australian and Victorian Senior Order of Merits as well as the Western Australia and Tasmania Senior Amateurs.
Meanwhile, Wooster, runner-up in last year’s inaugural APGC Women’s Senior, added a second successive even-par 72 to her opening 75.
Her three-over 219 total was five clear of compatriot and first-round leader Gemma Dooley. Louise Mullard, the third member of the Australian team, ended joint third individually with New Zealand’s Lisa Herbert.
“I played steadily, hit a lot of greens and always felt in control,” said Wooster. “After finishing second last year it’s nice to win this time – both individually and as a team.”
Australia’s team aggregate of 443 gave them a comfortable victory from New Zealand (469) with Hong Kong, China claiming third place (481).
LEADING MEN’S INDIVIDUAL SCORES
216 – James Lavender (Australia) 68-72-76
217 – Greg Rhodes (Australia) 73-72-72; Stuart Duff (New Zealand) 75-69-73
219 – Kim Yang-kwon (Korea) 75-71-73
222 – Chung Hwan (Korea) 77-71-74
225 – Brent Paterson (New Zealand) 72-73-80; Sandeep S. Sandhu (India) 71-71-83
226 – Andrew Ng (Singapore) 75-74-77; Lai Chee Weng (Singapore) 75-74-77
227 – Kim Dong-sub (Korea) 74-76-77; Syren Johnstone (Hong Kong, China) 74-74-79
LEADING MEN’S TEAM SCORES
658 – Australia 216-218-224 (James Lavender 68-72-76; Greg Rhodes 73-72-72; Mark Allen 75-79-76; Ian Frost 78-74-76)
665 – Korea 2 226-218-221 (Kim Dong-sub 74-76-77; Kim Yang-kwon 75-71-73; Chung Hwan 77-71-74; Lim Nae-rack 87-76-74)
666 – New Zealand 223-216-227 (Brent Paterson 72-73-80; Stuart Duff 75-69-73; Tony Chettleburgh 76-75-79; Malcolm Gullery 79-74-75)
676 – India 221-226-229 (Sandeep S. Sandhu 71-71-83; Jaideep Singh 75-81-77; Gaurav Ghosh 75-77-76; David D’Souza 76-78-76)
678 – Korea 1 227-227-224 (Jang Heong-soo 72-77-79; Kim Yeon-gi 76-74-78; Ryo Ki-ro 79-77-73; Jung Gyeong-ho 81-76-73)
LEADING WOMEN’S INDIVIDUAL SCORES
219 – Sue Wooster (Australia) 75-72-72
224 – Gemma Dooley (Australia) 74-75-75
231 – Louise Mullard (Australia) 76-79-76; Lisa Herbert (New Zealand) 76-75-80
237 – Yukiko Hirahara (Singapore) 79-81-77
239 – Diana Syer (New Zealand) 80-82-77
240 – Cathy Chung (Hong Kong, China) 83-79-78
241 – Loida Arnold (Hong Kong, China) 81-79-81
245 – Robyn Pellow (New Zealand) 79-84-82
249 – Emiri Sunga (Guam) 82-86-81
LEADING WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES
443 – Australia 149-147-147 (Sue Wooster 75-72-72; Gemma Dooley 74-7575; Louise Mullard 76-79-76)
469 – New Zealand 155-157-157 (Lisa Herbert 76-75-80; Diana Syer 80-82-77; Robyn Pellow 79-84-82)
481 – Hong Kong China 164-158-159 (Loida Arnold 81-79-81; Cathy Chung 83-79-78; Felicia Louey 86-84-92)
STORY: Spencer Robinson| ASIA PACIFIC GOLF FEDERATION