Luke Toomey
(Golf New Zealand Photo)
UPPER HUTT, New Zealand (October 28, 2016) -- Luke Toomey has completed a come from behind victory against Henry Spring in an epic battle to highlight day three of the Cobra Puma New Zealand Amateur Championship.
In what could already be described as the match of the week, Waikato’s Toomey made three birdies in his final four holes to defeat a courageous Spring
Bay of Plenty’s Spring held a two-up lead for the majority of the match before the final stretch where the two were trading remarkable birdies in treacherous conditions at the Royal Wellington Golf Club.
It was a big day for the best-ranked player [Toomey] in the field as he had to face off against a fellow New Zealand representative in Luke Brown this morning.
“It was a tough day having to play Luke in the morning, but I played some of my best golf yet, having to then face Springers in the afternoon was a tough battle,” said a relieved Toomey.
“It was high intensity all afternoon and he definitely brought the heat! He holed some putts that were seriously clutch in response to my birdies and all the way to the finish it was nail biting.
However Toomey isn’t getting ahead of himself as he prepares for the quarterfinal stages of the country’s biggest amateur championship.“I think the key is you can walk out of a game like that and feel like you have already won the tournament. I’m only in the quarterfinals and I have to ensure I match that intensity from here in.”
Spring was the backbone of this epic encounter and will take positives from a result that will be hard to swallow after leading for the majority of the contest.
“It was unreal coming up against Luke so early in the tournament. For me it felt like a final and it’s awesome to think I almost beat Luke and knowing that, I would have beaten anyone else today. Looking back, I’m not disappointed because of how well I played today,” said Spring.The omission of defending champion Daniel Hillier was the first upset of the day as Shiv Sabherwal pulled out a dominant performance to win 4&2. The locals were in disbelief as their hometown hero went down without a fight against the exciting Aucklander.
The Wellington faithful will now rely on Jono Cane who has already shown his class and is proving to be a genuine threat on his home track. Cane returned the favor and dealt to Sabherwal 4&2 as he locks in a thrilling battle between top qualifier Shaun Campbell who dodged a bullet, winning on the 20th hole against Reid Hilton.
In the women’s field, as predicted there were some solid margins of victory with the majority of favorites progressing to the top eight tomorrow.
Muchin Keh, Siyi Keh, Chantelle Cassidy, Brittney Dryland and Rose Zheng, all recorded very dominant victories, but it was Alanna Campbell who caused a stir with the upset of the round after getting thrashed by Jasmine Rou 4&3 to end her dreams of claiming the title.
Ela Grimwood won a blockbuster clash against Amelia Garvey that came down to the final hole. This was a big challenge for both players so early in the competition and Grimwood will take huge confidence from beating the talented Garvey.
We now move on to the weekend with the quarter-finals supplying some great clashes for the golfing community at Royal Wellington.
Campbell will take on Cane in what is clearly youth versus experience and power versus patience providing a great spectacle to start the day.
Grimwood will then test herself against the best as she faces Cassidy who produced a clinical performance against Australian Montana Strauss, winning 4&3.
ABOUT THE New Zealand Amateur
Match play championship of New Zealand for men
and
women. 36 holes of stroke play qualifying to
determine
the final
32 players for single elimination match play.
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