Golf Vic Vol 60 No 1

Studying hard … Andre Lautee on the green at Huntingdale.

“That’s still my plan, but I’ve got to finish school (she’s in Year 12 at Penrhos College). It’s what my parents have always insisted: have a back-up plan because golf is a hard industry. I’m in my final year. After that, maybe college in America.” Despite winning the Australian Girls title at Royal Perth in April last year, Hinson-Tolchard says winning the Victorian Amateur, her first senior title, gave her the bigger thrill. “I’ve never been good at matchplay – much better at strokeplay because I don’t deviate too much – so getting through the matchplay surprised me. It surprised my family, too.” In an all-WA final, Maddison overcame state teammate Kirsten Rudgeley after carding five consecutive birdies on the second 18 holes of the 36-hole final. A fortnight after that win, she was teeing it up in the Australian Amateur at Woodlands and was tied 15th after two stroke rounds of 75 and 71. She lost her round-of-16 match to South Korea’s Yae-Eun (Amy) Hong, the eventual winner of the title. Hinson-Tolchard has been a regular WA state team member at both junior and senior levels, captained the junior team last year, and at the time of writing was the sixth-ranked amateur nationally and 330th in the world. Getting both rankings down will be as important to her as getting her school grades up, so it’s going to be a big year. There’s little doubt she has the work ethic to succeed. “I practise pretty much every day, concentrating on my short game – getting more accurate – because I feel my long game is ok. “If I have spare time, I try to relax with friends or get out on my family’s boat. And I got a car for Christmas, so I’m looking forward to getting my licence.”

As if that wasn’t cool enough, four days later Lautee won the dual titles of the Woodlands Open Amateur and the Victorian Men’s Champion of Champions titles at Woodlands Golf Club. Reduced to just 18 holes because of lightning and rain, Lautee’s two-under-par 70 left him one shot clear of Antony Majstorovic. Then in mid-January, Lautee teed it up in the Australian Amateur, again at Woodlands Golf Club, and although not winning, he was far from disgraced, carding rounds of 65 and 72 to qualify for the matchplay rounds in ninth position. After a 4&3 win in the round of 16, Andre lost a tight second-round match 2&1 to England’s Michael Farr. So, after several months of outstanding golf, Lautee admits he’s reassessing his future although he’s determined to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground, which means he has no immediate plans to turn professional. “It won’t happen in the near future. I’ve got two years to go in my computer science course at Swinburne University and my Dad is pretty keen on me finishing and getting my degree. “My immediate aim will be to get into the Victorian Institute of Sport and this year’s state team, then to play a few events overseas although I haven’t decided whether this will be in America or the UK. Certainly the British Amateur is one I want to play.” Maddison Hinson-Tolchard was also steered towards golf by a father and assorted family members who all played. “I was about eight when I started playing some My Golf five-hole events and almost straight away I wanted to be a professional,” says the confident West Australian whose family home is just a short iron from the Gosnells Golf Club in the southern Perth suburb of Canning Vale.

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