Australian Amateur


The Australian Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It has been played annually since 1894, except for the war years, and is organised by Golf Australia.
Since 1959 it has been played in two stages, a stroke play stage followed by a match play stage. Currently the event is played over six days in January and consists of a 36-hole stroke-play qualifying stage after which the leading 64 play six rounds of match-play. The final is over 36 holes.
The winner of the stroke-play stage is the Australian Medallist. For a few years from 2006, the winner of the stroke play stage was named the Australian Amateur Stroke Play champion.

History

The championship is reckoned to start in 1894 when the Melbourne Golf Club founded the "Victorian Golf Cup" open to all amateurs in Australasia. The 1894 contest was played on 5, 7 and 9 November with the result decided by a bogey contest over three rounds. Louis Whyte won with a score of 6 holes down on bogey, 6 holes ahead of Mark Anderson. The same format was used for 1895 event, which was played on 4, 6 and 8 November. Robert Balfour-Melville was even with bogey, 10 holes ahead of Dr. Hope. The 1896 contest was held from 23 to 25 September and was decided by match-play with the final over 36 holes. Defending champion, Robert Balfour-Melville, met Harry Howden in the final. Howden was 4 up with five to play before Balfour-Melville levelled the match at the 35th. However Howden won the last to win by 1 hole. The event was decided by 72 holes of stroke-play in 1897, played on 13 and 15 October. Harry Howden retained the trophy with a score of 348, 33 strokes ahead of W McIntyre. Howden led by 12 after the first day and extended this by a further 21 on the final day. The 1898 event was again decided by stroke-play. Harry Howden was three behind the leaders after the first day but pulled away on the final day and won with a score of 360, 13 ahead of his brother Jim.
The Australian Golf Union was formed in 1898 and organised their first championship at Royal Sydney Golf Club on 26 and 27 May 1899. Harry Howden and New Zealander Charles Gillies were level after the first day on 157. Howden led by a stroke after three rounds after Gillies had taken 11 at the fourth hole. The pair were still level with nine holes to play but Gillies came home in 37 to Howden's 48 to win with a total of 314, 11 ahead of Howden, who still took second place. In 1900 it was held at Adelaide Golf Club on 28 and 29 June. Louis Whyte won with a score of 382, four ahead of Walter Carre Riddell. The championship returned to the Sydney area in 1901, being played at The Australian Golf Club on 11 and 12 July. Harry Howden won with a score of 352, 7 strokes ahead of Hugh MacNeil, although he had trailed by 5 after the first day. The 1902 championship was played at Royal Melbourne on 22 and 23 October. Hugh MacNeil won with a score of 328, six ahead of Peter Anderson and Walter Carre Riddell. In 1903 the event returned to Adelaide Golf Club, played from 25 to 27 June. The format was revised, there being a 36-hole stroke-play after which the leading 8 played match-play with a 36-hole final. Dan Soutar beat Jim Howden 3&1 in the final.
From 1904 to 1939 the championship meeting included an open event, the Australian Open. The leading 8 or 16 amateurs in the open played match-play on the following days to determine the amateur champion. However when the meeting was held at Royal Melbourne in 1905 and 1907 there was no separate event, the amateur championship being won by the leading amateur in the open. In 1905 Dan Soutar won the open with a score of 337, 10 strokes ahead of runner-up Michael Scott, who therefore became the amateur champion. In 1907 Scott won the open championship with a score of 318, 7 ahead of the leading professional Dan Soutar, becoming both open and amateur champions. Scott had to survive a protest, having accidentally driven from outside the teeing ground at one hole.
When the championship resumed in 1946 it was played at Royal Sydney after the Australian Open that had been played there. However, the Open no longer acted as a qualifying event and the amateur championship became match-play only with 18-hole matches except for the final. Alan Waterson beat Jim Pendergast 2&1 in the final. From 1947 the Open and Amateur were generally played at separate venues. In 1952 both Open and Amateur championships were held at Lake Karrinyup, the first time either had been held in Western Australia. The format for the amateur championship was revised for that year only, with a 36-hole stroke-play qualifying event with the leading 32 players playing in the match-play stage. Bob Stevens led the qualifiers with a score of 141 and went on to win the title, beating Bill Higgins 7&6 in the final.
In 1959 36-hole stroke-play qualifying was introduced with the leading 64 players playing in the match-play stage. From 1971 the number of qualifiers was reduced to 32, while from 1996 to 2011 the qualifying rounds were played over 72 holes. In 2012 the format returned to the 1959 format with the leading 64 qualifying after 36 holes of stroke play.

Winners

All match-play finals have been over 36 holes. A number of early events used different formats. The 1894 and 1895 were bogey competitions, decided over 3 rounds; Whyte winning by 6 holes in 1894 and Balfour-Melville by 10 holes in 1895. The events from 1897 to 1902, 1905 and 1907 were decided by 72-holes of stroke-play. Howden won by 33 strokes in 1897 and 13 strokes in 1898. Gillies won by 11 strokes in 1899, Whyte by 4 in 1900, Howden by 7 in 1901 and MacNeil by 6 in 1902. Scott was 6 strokes ahead of Howden in 1905 and 12 ahead of Pearce in 1907.

Medallists

The winner of the stroke play stage is the Australian Medallist. For a few years from 2006, the winner of the stroke play stage was named the Australian Amateur Stroke Play champion.