Kelsey Bennett remains in the hunt for the Women’s Amateur Crown after a pair of impressive matchplay wins at Hunstanton Golf Club in Norfolk, England overnight.
The Mollymook star, who plays her golf out of St Michael’s, accounted for the 2020 runner-up, England’s Annabel Fuller, in her round of 32 match, 3 & 2, before putting on an eye-catching display in disposing of France’s Maylis Lamoure, 5 & 4 in the afternoon.
The wins keep Bennett on track to become only the second New South Wales winner of the revered trophy since the legendary Edwina Kennedy snared the title back in 1978.
Bennett was never headed in her morning match against the world number 44, Fuller.
After getting out to a two-hole lead early, Bennett kept the pressure on her opponent with a series of clutch putts during the middle of the round.
The Englishwoman had her chances, but Bennett responded whenever she made a move, eventually closing out the match 3 &2.
“I played pretty solid and got up early, which I was pretty happy about.
“I made some good putts to square some holes, and managed to not let her get (any) back,” Bennett said in her post round interview.
Bennett admitted she didn’t really know all that much about her more heralded opponent prior to the morning contest, saying it was just a matter of concentrating on her own game and not worrying too much about her opponent, Fuller.
” I didn’t know too much about her, I had my own mindset and played my own game.”
The Afternoon match in the round of 16 was a lop-sided affair. With Bennett showing the level of form she displayed in her impressive runners-up finish at the 2021 Asia Pacific Women’s Amateur, her french opponent stood little chance.
Bennett opened the match with a birdie to vault straight to the lead. The pair halved the next two holes before Bennett went on a rip, taking the 4th, 5th and 6th to establish a match-winning four-hole lead by the turn.
Bennett got the lead out to five on the 12th. With her 80-year-old nan, Patsy, cheering her on, it was simply a matter of closing out the match with pars on the 13th and 14th.
“Nan decided to come with me, she’s from here and hasn’t been her for 40 years. She’s been following me around its been really nice.”
“She’s very supportive.”
Bennett’s quarter-final opponent will be Sweden’s Louise Rydqvist, who caused the boilover of the tournament, knocking out her countrywoman and world number two, Ingrid Lindblad in this evening’s round of 16.
The 2022 Women’s Amateur Champion will secure exemptions into to the AIG Women’s Open, The US Women’s Open, The Amundi Evian Championship, and by tradition, an invitation to compete at Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship.
The Quarter and Semi-finals will be streamed live on Youtube – fans can catch the stream HERE
