Southern Golf Club in Keysborough provided the perfect canvas for the nation’s number-one ranked amateur event last week with the 2026 Australian Master of the Amateurs attracting some quality young players from around the world.
Golfers endured blistering heat and strong winds across the four days of competition, with Friday’s final round brought forward to an earlier start to combat the strong north-westerly breeze and rising temperatures that made the challenging layout even more difficult.
Two of Australia’s brightest young prospects sat atop the leaderboard after four rounds, with Victorian Abel Eduard winning the men’s event by two shots after carding a 13-under score of 275, while South Australian Raegan Denton defeated world number-nine Catherine Park by a single stroke after signing off on a five-under par 287.
Eduard and Denton completed an Australian double in the highly-regarded international event for the first time in five years.
Eduard (73) began the final round with a four-stroke lead and held off a strong finish from compatriot Harry Takis (66) to claim the biggest win of his amateur career.
A member at both Kew and Kingston Heath, Eduard kept his cool over the concluding stages; using a two-iron for his final tee-shot of the tournament to keep his ball in play in the difficult conditions.
“I made sure not to know what the situation was until after I hit that shot, I wanted to play the hole the best I can and I felt like hitting that stinger was the best decision to do,” Eduard said after his round.
“Two iron was the right play and it set me up.”
Eduard set up his win with an opening round barrage, firing a nine-under 63 to take control of proceedings.
“Going into the week, didn’t really know what was going to happen,” he said.
“I felt like my game was good and stuck to it, put myself in a good position after the first round and I’m happy to get the job done over the four days.”
Eduard kept his composure until the winning putt was struck; with fellow Australian amateurs rushing on to the green and providing him with a winning shower of celebration.
“There’s no feeling like having a putt to win,” he said.
“No matter how many shots you are ahead, you’re always going to be a little bit nervous but I was very happy that I knew I’d got the job done.
“To be able to come out here at the start of the year and get the job done this week is really good for my confidence.
“Just hoping I can build from it.”
The final round of the women’s event came down to just two players, with Denton and USA star Park beginning the Friday shootout locked at seven-under par.
Denton was the steadier throughout the day, with a run of pars through the middle stages of her round proving the difference.
Denton gave Park a sniff by bogeying the last hole, but the American did likewise to give Denton the biggest win of her burgeoning career.
“The conditions were really tough all week; hot, windy, but I just tried to stick to my own game and not focus on Catherine (Park) too much because I can only control myself,” she said.
“Sure, there were a lot of pressures that made it a bit of a trickier week but it was just a really good week.
“It was a really strong field coming into it, lots of really strong international players so I was really looking forward to the challenge.”
Denton displayed fighting qualities on day four; a great example being a terrific up and down on the 13th that helped stave off the Park challenge.
“I think that was a pretty big turning point in the match today both in the score but also mentally,” she explained.
“It was a bit of a turning point for sure and just being able to make an up-and-down from a tricky spot like that was really good.”
Australian Master of the Amateurs – Leaderboards
MENS TOP 10 R1 R2 R3 R4 TOTAL
Abel Eduard Aus 63 72 67 73 275
Harry Takis Aus 67 77 67 66 277
Kayun Mudadana Aus 70 73 69 69 281
Jamie Van Wyk Eng 69 70 68 74 281
Josiah Gilbert USA 70 73 69 70 282
Yuki Miya NZ 69 70 67 76 282
Seonghyeon An Sth Korea 74 73 69 67 283
Jye Halls Aus 73 71 72 68 284
Zackary Swanwick NZ 74 70 72 68 284
Kanichiro Katano Japan 68 77 70 69 284
WOMENS TOP 10 R1 R2 R3 R4 TOTAL
Raegan Denton Aus 75 66 71 75 287
Catherine Park USA 67 74 71 76 288
Anna Iwanaga Japan 74 72 71 73 290
Ella Scaysbrook Aus 71 75 74 71 291
Jasmine Koo USA 71 74 73 73 291
Celine Chen Aus 69 76 70 77 292
Suritpreeya Pruksanubal Thailand 73 70 77 73 293
Jazy Roberts Aus 74 73 72 74 293
Alice Cho Korea 72 72 76 74 294
Scarlett Schremmer USA 75 73 73 74 295
