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Jenny
Lee won the NSW Amateur Championship but not without a
worthy challenge put up by former Philippine national
team member, now an Australian citizen, Frances
Bondad on Saturday.
Lee was
down by one with three holes when she sank a bunker shot
for eagle on the 16th hole—the shot that swayed the
momentum into the 18-year-old’s way.
“That
was the turning point, for sure,” Lee said. “We both had
bunker shots and Frances has put hers to within three
feet and I am thinking ‘Oh My God, my ball is plugged in
the wet bunker, I’ll just get it close. Luckily it went
in to square the match with two to play. That got me
going.”
Bondad,
now a member of the Australian national squad, got off
to a commanding start. But as the girls prepared for the
par-five 16th, Lee couldn’t guess what was to happen
next and that left Bondad shaking her head.
“When
she hit out of the bunker for an eagle I thought you are
kidding, you can’t do that,” said Bondad. “But that is
what happens in match play. We were all square after
that and I tried to remain positive but I just couldn’t
do it.”
Bondad
became disconcerted and missed the fairway on the
par-four 17th while Lee was smiling in the middle. But
at 360 yards out, Bondad showed enough class and
strength when she blasted out of a muddy dirt patch to
place the ball to within six feet to the pin. The hole
was squared and it was game on as the girls headed to
the par-five 18th.
Bondad
again was off target of the fairway while Lee was well
placed with her third shot landing
15 feet
short of the back pin. The Fil-Aussie was faced with a
very long 60-foot putt.
Lee was
in for two, leaving Bondad with a tough downhill
five-foot putt to force the match to extension.
On the
playoff hole, Lee was again the steadier of the two,
putting her tee shot in perfect position to attack the
green, while Bondad found the bunker.
After
hitting out for two, she was able to put her third to
within 12 feet off the pin but Lee responded with a
perfect chip onto the tiered green. Bondad’s putt
disappointingly skimmed the hole, leaving Lee a
three-foot putt for the championship.
The
see-sawing finale was played, yet again, in the rain.
The wet weather forced the girls off the course after 12
holes and, as a result, the match play was reduced from
36 to 18 holes.
Both Lee
and Bondad will have a few weeks break before heading
off to the Royal Adelaide golf course to battle it out
for the South Australian Amateur Championship, which
starts later next month. |
