14 Oct 2022 | Amateur golf |
Queenslanders Bosio and Hoath win Keperra Bowl
by Dane Heverin
Australian representative Justice Bosio and fellow Queenslander Lewis Hoath held firm in a testing final round to win the Keperra Bowl at Keperra Country Golf Club in Brisbane.
Bosio, who has been selected to represent Australia at the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific in Thailand next month, shot a steady even par final round of 72 to triumph by three shots, while Hoath finished a remarkable 16-under for the tournament to prevail by two shots.
The victory is 18-year-old Bosio's second at Keperra after she made history as the event's first female champion in 2020 when she stormed home with a pair of 67s.
The Caboolture member only just made the cut then, but this time around she immediately found her groove as she led from start to finish.
She opened the tournament with a three-under round of 69, but a second round 73 had her tied for the lead with soon to be Australian teammate Sarah Hammett, who shot the women's low round of the week with a 68 on Wednesday, at the halfway mark.
Bosio took control from then on as a third round 70 - which could have been lower had it not been for a bogey-double bogey finish - moved her to four-under with a two-shot lead heading into the final day, and she was able to grow that buffer with her composed final round.
The win was a drought breaker for Bosio - her first in a World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) event in two years - and she ended a streak of six runner-up finishes between victories.
"I was more comfortable than I've been before," she said. "Last night I got a good sleep in and came to the golf course and played okay.
"My game has changed a bit from a couple of years. It's a lot more consistent even though the score probably doesn't show it but it is more consistent.
"I knew where I stood going into the back nine today and I just tried to keep calm, and make pars. If any birdies went in, it would be a bonus."
Hoath's triumph was his first in a WAGR event in nearly a year - he last won at the 2021 Tasmanian Amateur Championship - and it came courtesy of a sensational 36-hole burst.
The RACV Royal Pines Resort Golf Club member opened the tournament with rounds of 70 and 68 before a third round 66 launched him into the lead.
He began the final day with a one shot advantage and when he made an eagle at the first hole on Friday morning it appeared as if he could not be stopped.
Bogeys at the second and fourth ensured that it would not be smooth sailing, but Hoath responded with three birdies prior to the turn.
New South Wales Golf Club's Harry Bolton, who shot the low round of the week with a second round 65, drew with one shot of Hoath with seven holes to play but the Queenslander was not to be denied.
Birdies at the 13th and 14th were crucial and they gave Hoath enough breathing room to drop a shot at the penultimate hole, and it not impact the result.
"I putted well. I had a lot of help from caddie, Jordan Rooke, he's a member here so he was giving me some good reads and everything was going on the line I wanted to," he said.
"I held a pretty good putt on 14 and from then on I was like 'yeah, I should win this'."
Defending champion Tyler Duncan finished tied for third alongside Brookwater's Taj Egea, while 15-year-old Hammett was in a three-way share of second place in the women's with fellow Queenslanders Haruhi Nakatini and Shyla Singh.