A cliffhanger saw Stacey Keating emerge victorious by one stroke from Sarah Kemp to win the 2016 Bing Lee Fujitsu Oatlands Classic on the ALPG Tour Club Car Series.
On a cool windy day which saw heavy showers pass through on several occasions at Oatlands Golf Club, Stacey Keating was able to hold off the challenging pack in the end defeating Sarah Kemp by a single stroke.
Starting two strokes ahead of Kemp, Keating was a solid as a rock on the front nine, making all pars and a single birdie at the par 5 4th hole to go out in one-under-par and keep her nose in front of the chasing pack. Kemp herself was also making no errors. After an identical front nine to Keating she went on to make two birdies at the par fives on the back nine and a single bogey at the sixteenth hole to sign for an impressive two under par round of 70 and set the clubhouse lead at 6 under par.
Keating, with all of experience made par after par on the back nine and a superb iron shot at the par-3 18th hole ensured that the victory was hers. Her first round of 66 backed up with a solid one under par round of 71 was enough to ensure a one shot victory over Kemp.
Keating was delighted with her second victory of the ALPG season, after her win in November at the Anita Boon pro-am in Auckland, and November, and paid tribute to Bing Lee and the Lee family for their support of the ALPG and this event:
“I played with Yenda yesterday and we had such a great time. The ALPG has been coming to Oatlands for ten years now and the level of support that Yenda and Lionel have given the ALPG and this event is incredible”
Keating, the 2012 French and Spanish Open champion, paid tribute to her fiance Darren Peters, who is also her regular caddy on tour.
“Daz flew up here to caddy for me and he is always such a great support for me on and off the course. Today it was really windy and it was great to have him out there with me” Keating also paid tribute to her coach Darren Cole, with whom she has been working the past 14 months. “Coley and I made a few changes last year and they have taken a little bit of time to bed in. Last year the golf was a little up and down but the good was good enough for me to know that we were working on the right things. I have had to be patient which is not easy for me!”
Keating’s win and the winner’s cheque for $4500 will ensure that she stays firmly on top of the ALPG Tour’s 2015/16 Order of Merit.
The ALPG Tour Club Car Series now takes a three day break before heading up the Windsor Rd to Castle Hill Country Club where British superstar and former world number one Dame Laura Davies will kick off her 2016 season at the Mulpha Castle Hill ALPG Pro-am.
Visit: www.alpg.com.au
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