PLAY TODAY NSW Open Champion Harrison Crowe will spearhead a new-look NSW Blues team containing seven debutants in this year’s Australian Interstate Teams matches at St. Michael’s Golf Club in May.
The ten-member team is:
Men
Harrison Crowe (St. Michael’s)
Jeff Guan (The Australian)
Daley Loumanis (St. Michael’s)
Declan O’Donovan (Avondale)
Jye Picken (Avondale/Charlestown)
Women
Belinda Ji (Concord)
Rachel Lee (Avondale)
Charlotte Perkins (The Australian)
Annika Rathbone (The Australian)
June Song (Avondale)
Managers for this year’s series are Mr Michael Medway and Ms Olivia Wilson. John Serhan will coach the team.
Crowe, 21, enters the tournament as the stand-out male amateur in the country and will be fresh back from his appearance at this year’s Masters in Augusta, Georgia.
Guan, 18, makes his debut as a NSW Senior representative after an outstanding junior career, which included back-to-back NSW and Australian Junior titles and a Junior Presidents Cup appearance.
Also making their maiden appearance are St. Michael’s Daley Loumanis and Avondale’s Declan O’Donovan, who both posted pleasing results across the summer.
Rounding out the men’s team is Novocastrian Jye Pickin, who will be making his third appearance in New South Wales colours.
The women’s squad is no less impressive.
With Kelsey Bennett turning professional and Brielle Mapanao electing to attend college in the United States, four new faces have been added to the women’s squad since the last interstate contest.
Belinda Ji, the sole remaining member of the 2022 team, posted several solid results over the 2022-2023 summer, including a fast finishing top five placing at the 2023 Australian Amateur Championship in January.
Rachel Lee has progressed well since moving into the senior ranks. Her Avondale counterpart, June Song, will also debut in the Blues colours.
Rounding out the women’s team are The Australian Golf Club’s Annika Rathbone and Charlotte Perkins.
Rathbone has impressed many with her determined nature, with several notable results over the summer; while Perkins performed well beyond her years in the matchplay of the recently completed NSW Amateur Championship at Pennant Hills.
Graeme Phillipson, Chief Operating Officer at Golf NSW, said the group selected had distinguished themselves well over the past year.
“This team is an impressive mix of old heads, up and coming with a touch of local knowledge added for good measure.
“It’s understandable to think that for a few players in the team, this will be their last year in State colours, but for the debutants, it may well be the start of an accomplished amateur career which catapults them on to great heights,” Mr Phillipson said.
