What’s better, Crabtree had to bury a birdie putt on the final hole just to stay ahead of two younger chasers. Crabtree was 17 under for the week at Riversdale Golf Club in Victoria, Australia. His final-round 5-under 67 included an eagle at the par-5 sixth – his third of the week – and four consecutive birdies from Nos. 8-11.
At 23, of course, Crabtree is a bit older than the teenagers challenging for the title behind him. According to Golf Australia, Crabtree is coached by Cameron Smith’s mentor Grant Field and works out of the Queensland Academy of Sport. He played soccer until he was 14, thus getting a late start in golf.
“I feel like this performance has been coming,” he told Golf Australia. “It was just a matter of when.”
Among the men who Crabtree was barely able to keep at bay was Blake Collyer. The fellow Australian won the Dunes Medal and the Cotton States Invitational (in the U.S.) in 2018. Countryman Aiden Didone also finished tied for second.
Nathan Barbieri, runner-up at both the New South Wales Amateur and the Australian Men’s Amateur, was part of a three-way tie for seventh.
Blake Windred, who carries the second-best world ranking of any Australian (behind only David Micheluzzi) tied for 14th.
In the women’s division, Japan’s Yuna Nishimura beat compatriot Miyu Yamashita and Australia Rebecca Kay by three shots. Most notably, Nishimura is the player who finished runner-up at the inaugural Women’s Asia-Pacific Amateur in 2018, and will play the event again this year considering that the winner earns a spot in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur
Information from Golf Australia used in this report