18-year-old Billy Dowling wins the Queensland Amateur

August 25, 2023 | by Justin Golba of AmateurGolf.com

Billy Dowling (Golf Australia Photo)

Dowling joined an elite group of players to clinch the Queensland Men's Strokeplay and Amateur titles double in the same year

Billy Dowling has already built an incredible resume as an amateur, and he keeps adding to it.

Dowling won the Queensland Amateur Championship, completing the esteemed double of winning the Men's Strokeplay Championship and Amateur titles in the same year.

There was also a first-time winner in the women's event, with Royal Adelaide’s Caitlin Peirce continuing her outstanding form in 2023, scoring a 2&1 victory in the final against Sarah Hammett.

In a final that featured plenty of birdies, Dowling defeated Will Moody 3&2 to back up the Strokeplay title he won earlier in the week.

The 16th hole was an appropriate place for Dowling to finish the final and deny Moody a win on his birthday. All four of the matches the No.1 seed claimed to clinch the Amateur ended at the 16th, including a 3&2 success over fellow Golf Australia High-Performance Squad member, Royal Queensland’s Quinnton Croker, in the semi-finals.

Earlier in the week, Dowling’s rounds of 66-72-68 allowed him to overhaul Lewis Hoath and win the Men’s Strokeplay Championship by a shot at 10-under in what was his first big victory at open-age.

The 18-year-old Dowling had previously won the Queensland Junior Amateur in 2021 and the South Australian Junior Amateur last year.

Today's women’s final between two members of Golf Australia’s High-Performance Squad saw each player hold a 2-up lead at one stage, with Hammett claiming the first two holes before Peirce fought back to lead by two after nine.

Earlier, Peirce, who made the last 16 to be the leading Australian at both the British Women’s Amateur Championship and US Women’s Amateur Championship over the northern summer, made her way through to the final with a 3&2 victory over Ann Jang in the semi-finals.

She came into the strokeplay event as the No. 2 seed behind Hannah Reeves, who was eliminated by Hammett after a 22-hole duel in the quarter-finals.

Results: Queensland Amateur Championship

Place	Player	Location	Pts
Win	Billy Dowling	, Australia	400
Runner-up	Will Moody	, Australia	300
Semifinals	Quinnton Croker	, Australia	200
Semifinals	William Bowen	, Australia	200
Medalist	Billy Dowling	, Australia	100