The NSW Blues have made a confident start to the 2026 Australian Interstate Teams Matches at Glenelg Golf Club, drawing 4–4 against Queensland in a fiercely contested morning session before surging to a 5–3 victory over Western Australia this afternoon.
Camilla Kim, Rachel Lee, and women’s Captain Ella Scaysbrook were the standouts, each going unbeaten across both rounds to finish the day with two wins apiece.
The Blues opened their campaign against Queensland in what proved to be an evenly matched State of Origin battle. Ella Scaysbrook accounted for Grace Rho 2&1, Coby Carruthers defeated Wesley Hinton 3&1, and Rachel Lee edged Allegra De Guzman by 1 Hole. Fifteen-year-old Camilla Kim rounded out the wins with a composed 2&1 victory over Alicia Ludi on debut.
Queensland claimed the other four points through Billy Dowling, who was dominant against Kayun Mudadana 5&4, Ionna Muir defeating Lara Thomsen 4&2, Chase Oberle claiming a narrow 1 Hole win over Jye Halls, and Harrison Gomez defeating Blake Phillips 3&2 to level the match and secure the draw.
NSW found another gear in the afternoon, with five wins from eight matches to take down Western Australia. Kayun Mudadana bounced back from the morning loss to claim a 1 Hole win over Josiah Edwards, Scaysbrook continued her superb form with a 2&1 victory over Pantita Phobubpa, and Jye Halls was determined to make amends after the morning result, defeating Adam Baillie 2&1. Rachel Lee was in dominant form, winning 4&3 against Katie Seol, and Kim once again delivered, defeating Valerie Khuu 2&1 for her second win of the day.
Western Australia’s points came through Nate Johnson, who beat Joshua Fuller 5&3, George Barclay, who accounted for Carruthers 3&2, and Kortni Houston, who edged Charlotte Perkins 2&1.
Halls reflected on the importance of the bounce-back result after falling to Oberle in the morning.
“I played pretty solid all day. I didn’t have too many bogies which was good. I didn’t give too many holes away, and I holed the putts I needed to,” he said.
“I played probably a little bit better this morning, but lost. It’s just a funny game, match play.”
At just 15 years old and on her NSW Open state team debut, Camilla Kim was one of the day’s brightest performers, winning both of her matches.
2026 Australian Interstate Teams Matches – Full Scores
“I just played my own game and I think that worked out. The putting worked a lot today and it’s always good when the putter works,” Kim said.
On her goals for the week, she has one in mind.
“I do want to be undefeated at the end of this week, and I’m happy I got those first two matches done.”
Captain Ella Scaysbrook, who led NSW to victory in 2025, was equally impressive.
“I was really confident coming into this tournament with how my game was, everything was really working,” Scaysbrook said.
“I’ve been practising really hard after a big stretch in January, so this was kind of my window.”
Scaysbrook captained NSW to the title last year and has her sights set on going back-to-back, though she’s keeping the team grounded for now.
“We’ve got a really good team, and obviously, last year winning as captain, it’d be really nice to do that again this year, but we’re not really thinking about that. We just want to have a really good week out.”
Rachel Lee was equally upbeat after her unbeaten day.
“We’ve got such a good team here and the support from Golf NSW has been really great. It’s always a nice start to have two wins,” Lee said.
Lee put her success down to keeping it simple off the tee.
“Just hitting it down the fairway really helped. I was trying to hit as close as I can to the pin and giving myself a chance.”
The NSW Blues return to action tomorrow, going head to head with Tasmania in the morning before taking on the home state of South Australia in the afternoon.
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