The 2016 Riversdale Cup saw a record number of players register to compete in the event. With 68 entries for 48 positions in the Women’s competition and 163 entries for 120 positions in the Men’s, this years competition was set to be one to remember. And the players did not disappoint.
The early favourite to take out the Women’s competition was Yumi Kudo. With scores of -3, -3 and -5 on the three days prior to the final, she led by 7 and it seemed too great a lead for anyone to catch. In walks Kirsty Hodgkins who had a +1, -2, and -3 coming into the final day and everything seemed to go her way. With the ball falling in all the right places she started to gain ground on Yumi with her play on holes 4 to 7 given her a great leap forward. A double bogey on the 16th for Yumi and some consistently great play by Kirsty on the back nine, she finished just one shot clear of Yumi to take out the title of 2016 Riversdale Cup Winner for the women.
In the men’s draw, competition was fierce with there seeming to be a leadership change every day. Steven Cox, Travis Smyth, Curtis Luck, David Micheluzzi, Scott Ready, and Brayden Petersen among others posted some great results each day. Coming into the final day of competition there were three leading the charge at -11. Harrison Endycott, 2015 Winner Travis Smyth, and Curtis Luck. The race to the finish was tight all day. Henry Spring who started the day -9 had a great day finishing -5 and setting the bar for the remaining field to chase. On the front nine, Harrison had finished -1 but had a bit of work to do if he wanted to take home the silverware. With 3 birdies on the back nine he was still fighting for the win and on the 18th it came to a nail-biting finish with Harrison getting a double bogey on the 18th after plopping the ball right into a bunker. Play precision golf, Harrison was able to hang on to take out the title just one shot clear of Henry to become the 2016 Riversdale Cup Winner for the men.
Here are some of the highlights of the day…
