Lockie shines in Play 9 final

WINCHELSEA golfer Lockie Bath made a stunning debut at Royal Melbourne on Sunday to finish second in the first Victorian Play 9 state final.

The 15-year-old finished one over the card to register a score of 22 points, two behind Torquay RACV member Michael Hu.

Playing on the famous back nine of Royal Melbourne’s West course, Bath started strongly and held his nerve on the final three holes to book his place at the national final later this month, which will be held during the Australian Open at the Australian Golf Club in Sydney.

He said the key was remaining calm.

“I started with a few pars and then on the last three holes I went bogey, bogey and birdie to finish one over,” Bath said.

“I wasn’t expecting that outcome, but I’m pretty happy with it. I started well and then just kept going from there, so I was thinking if I keep it going I might end up all right.

“It was a bit touchy with all the nerves, which were always going to be there, but just controlling those and just playing golf was the key.”

Bath, who qualified for the state final after winning a qualifying event at Thirteenth Beach, has a GA of eight but played off a handicap of nine at Royal Melbourne.

The Oberon High School student said the lure of playing alongside the likes of Jordan Spieth in Sydney had convinced him playing was a good idea.

“I thought when I first saw the event that I had to play in it because it’s a pretty cool prize to go and play there, and just to be around the pros and seeing how they do things will be awesome,” he said.

“But I went there just expecting to knock it around and play well so this is the best I could hope for.”

Hu, who finished in first place with 24 points after holding out the 100-player field, said he expected the nine-hole format to take off.

“It’s an awesome format, you can get nine holes in really quickly,” he said.

“The thing with golf is that it takes a whole day and, when you have a family, it’s really hard to get away. So the ninehole format works well.”