Blake Collyer lives up to his rep as a giant slayer
Golf Australia/Facebook photo
Victorian Blake Collyer further enhanced his
reputation for cutting down higher-ranked
opponents to advance to the Australian amateur
championships second round.
Collyer utilised local knowledge to beat second
seed Anthony Quayle two-up in a high-class first
round duel that continued right to Metropolitan's
18th green.
"It was a really good match, we both played really
well. I guess, I sank some putts when I needed
to,'' the victor said.
It's a repeat scenario for Collyer after he saved
par from a greenside bunker at the 10th hole in
the morning to survive a play-off just to make the
64-man matchplay field.
A member of Metropolitan's pennant team, he cut
it fine in a similar qualifying rounds play-off in last
year's national championships at The Australian
before knocking out a high seed in the first round
on his way to the last 16.
"I guess knowing the course really helped me. It
gave me some confidence and I felt good out
there,'' he said.
On his chances of advancing further this time,
Collyer said: "That's the plan. I feel I've got the
game to."
Collyer's sub-par upset performance was the local
standout on a fine day for the NSW men with
Dylan Perry ousting recently crowned Victorian
amateur champ Cameron John one-up.
Harrison Endycott won 1-up against Japan's
Takumi Kanaya, Corey Jones beat England's
Bradley Moore 2 & 1 and Austin Bautista thrashed
Welshman Jack Davidson 5 & 4.
Medallist and top seed Charles Pilon continued his
good form with a 3 & 2 victory over fellow
Australian Haydn Barron.
Golf Australian national squad member Brett
Coletta had to work hard to shake off gallant 14-
year-old fellow Victorian Karl Vilips 2 & 1.
Curtis Luck, Australia's highest ranked amateur, is
out, beaten 2-up by South Korea's Je-chang Ryu.
Scot Grant Forrest, runner-up in the 2015 British
amateur, led the overseas challenge with a 3 &2
win against Australian Kevin Yuan.
William Heffernan is through the next round after
a 3 &2 win agains Fred Lee, while fellow Victorian
DJ Loypur was even more impressive with his 6 &
5 triumph against Anthony Marchesani.
ABOUT THE Australian Men's Amateur
The Australian Men's and Women's
Amateur
Championships are Australia's oldest
Amateur
Golf Championships, with both having
been
played since 1894. Long held as a match play event,
in 2021 the format changed to 72 holes
of stroke play.
View Complete Tournament Information