Silvester Tan and Sheridan Clancy are the new WA Amateur champions after a gripping day of match play golf at at a blustery Sun City Country Club.

Aided by military precision off the tee and great invention around the greens, Royal Perth’s Tan edged top seed Connor Fewkes in the men’s final, producing a magnificent up-and-down from sand to win 1 up.

Lake Karrinyup’s Clancy, meanwhile, overcame a slow start to topple No.1 seed Molly McLean to add the WA women’s crown to the state girls’ title she won in 2021.

After four years in the US college golf system, Tan returned to the domestic golfing scene in late 2024 and was promptly named in this year’s GolfWA Men’s Squad.

Less well-known than some of his WA squad mates, Tan quietly worked his way through the match play draw after coming through the qualifying rounds as fifth seed.

A highlight was his hard-fought win over Riley Schafer in the last 16, when he overcame a one-hole deficit with three holes to play to win the match with a clutch birdie at the last.

Fewkes established a two-hole lead over Tan after a birdie at the 8th. Although Tan closed the gap to one hole, some supreme scrambling from Fewkes under pressure on 12 and 13 helped him keep his nose in front.

The dogged Tan would not be denied, however, and the match was all square by the par-three 17th, with both making nervy pars after missing the putting surface from the tee.

Sun City’s risk-and-reward par-five 18th delivered a suitably exciting finale, with both men going for the green in two and both finding the deep front bunker.

Playing first, Tan demonstrated his silky shortgame skills once again, extricating himself superbly to within four feet of the hole.

Fewkes’ own effort rolled long and when he failed to hole the return putt, Tan converted a testing, breaking putt to clinch a 1 up win.

“I came into this week with no expectations. I’d had good rounds here and there but I just struggled to put together a full tournament,” Tan told GolfWA.

“I knew that if I put together all the rounds where I was playing my best, then I could reach the final, so I just went about my business this week and it all came together.”

Tan hailed the impact new coach Brett Rumford has had on his short game, adding: “I’ve been working a lot on my chipping [with Rumford] and it was really, really good this week. I think it’s probably what got me over the line.”

Now he has the state’s most prestigious amateur title to his name, Tan’s focus is shifting to his future as he targets a Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia card at Q-School next month.

McLean made a fast start to the women's final, racing into a three-hole lead after just four holes, but Clancy turned the match on its head, winning four holes on the bounce from the 6th – which included an eagle three on the par-five 9th – to take a slender lead into the back nine.

She extended her advantage at the 13th, but McLean hit back to win the 14th and 15th holes to level the match and seize the momentum.

The par-three 17th proved to be the crucial hole. Clancy fired a pin-seeker to five feet, while McClean missed left and then undercooked a putt from the fringe.

Clancy confidently converted her birdie putt to regain the lead and made a tidy par at the dangerous closing hole to round out a famous victory.

After a testing couple of years without a significant win to her name, claiming her home state amateur championship is just the boost Clancy needed.

“It was a great match today against Molly and I’m super-happy to add the women’s championship to the girls’ title I won a few years ago,” she told GolfWA.

“It was nice to be in contention again and I’m really happy with how I played. I drove the ball really well all week and made a lot of putts when I needed to.”

Clancy also paid tribute to her caddy – and Lake Karrinyup clubmate – Isobel Dorrington, for keeping her grounded throughout the final.

“Isobel’s completely opposite to me. She’s very calm while I’m very bouncy. I was frustrated early in the final and she stopped me getting too down on myself. She did a great job today.”

A past WA junior representative, Clancy now represents Scotland at international level but says that she still considers herself a proud Western Australian.

“I play for Scotland, but everyone knows that I’m from WA and whenever I get the chance I play as many events as I can here,” she added.

“I was raised playing GolfWA events and it’s so nice to get the win today.”

This year’s event also incorporated the Mid-Amateur Championships of WA for golfers over the age of 30, with winners recognised for their performance in the stroke play qualifying rounds.

Stephen Lord (Goomalling GC) and Kristie Smith (Collier Park), won the respective Men’s and Women’s Mid-Am titles.

View the full results from championship week here.