Barbieri, Kim hold off international field at Avondale Amateur

Nathan Barbieri and Grace Kim have claimed their maiden Avondale Amateur Crowns in a thrilling afternoon of golf at Avondale. For Kim it was an impressive win on her home court in front of an adoring gallery of members. While for Barbieri, it marks his first World Ranking event title after a year of near misses on the international stage. Kim carded rounds of 66, 70, 71, 70 and was at her impressive best in a see saw battle which saw the lead change a number of times. A shot down with three to play she drew on all her experience to triumph by two over the courageous Japanese challenger Tsubasa Kajitani. The top three were rounded out by Fiona Xu from Akarana Golf Club in New Zealand. Xu shot two-under-par 70 including four birdies. Shuri Sakumi from the Japanese Golf Association improved her position by six on the ladder with an impressive hole in one on the 8th. For Barbieri, the maiden crown is a huge weight lifted from his shoulders after a couple of near misses in 2019 at the Australian and NSW Amateur Championships. Barbieri held onto the lead during the final day with five-under-par 66, finishing the tournament at 16-under-par. Barbieri managed to keep at bay the young 17 year old Englishmen Ben Schmidt who has been impressive over the past four days off the back of his win at the NSW Amateur Championships last week. Today Schmidt finished at two-under-par for a score of 69 which included an eagle on the 7th. Andre Lautee of Kingston Health Golf Club and Ren Yonezawa from the Japanese Golf Association finished equal third. Lautee improved his position by eight in the final day, finishing three-under-par 68 today and 10-under-par overall. Yonezawa finished on par today and also 10-under-par overall. Following Japanese golfer Taichei Kimura’s new course record yesterday, Louis Dobbelaar went one better with a score of 62 which included nine birdies which rocketed him 25 places up the ladder to finish 8th. Information from Avondale Golf Club was used in this report.