Rudgeley, Bolton win South Australian Amateur Classic

Kirsten Rudgeley and Harry Bolton have taken out the South Australian Amateur Classic at Royal Adelaide Golf Club with Rudgeley winning the Rene Erichsen Salver by an impressive nine strokes and Bolton holding off Jack Buchanan, Lewis Hoath and Hayden Hopewell by a shot to finish at 11-under-par.

Rudgeley’s win adds to her Port Phillip Open Amateur and Victorian Amateur wins and her runner-up finishes at the Australian and West Australian Amateurs. The Mount Lawley member finished 15-under for the week.

Harry Bolton and Kirsten Rudgeley have won the 2021 SA Amateur Classic titles (Credit: David Brand)

“I’m very happy with the win obviously, I feel like I’ve been playing well for, I’d like to say not just this year but for the last year, so getting a win is great,” said Rudgeley.

Victorian Jeneath Wong finished second at 6-under-par with Kelsey Bennett from New South Wales finishing in third position at 5-under-par.

The victory was Bolton’s first national event win, however, he has won on the US Collegiate circuit at the South Atlantic Conference Championship in 2019 and in 2016 was the Trojan Champion. His previous best finish was a runner-up at the 2019 South Australian Amateur the same year he won medallist honours at the tournament.

“I’m stoked with the win. I don’t know if I just play well in Adelaide or what it is, but I’m really happy to get the win,” said Bolton.

“It was a lot more challenging today because of a completely different wind to what we got on the first three days. But I stayed calm all day, which was nice.”

The South Australian Amateur Classic brings an end to the national events circuit for some time with the Northern Territory Amateur scheduled in late July, followed by the Queensland stroke play in August. The Australian Junior Championships are scheduled for next month in Canberra.