PERTH, Australia – Team Canada’s Hugo Bernard opened the Australian Amateur on Tuesday with a 4-under-par 68 at the Wanneroo Golf Club to hold a share of 4th place.
The Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que., product jumped to a hot start, going birdie-eagle-birdie in his first three holes to sit inside the top-five against competitors from 15 countries across the world. Bernard, 24, will tee-it-up Wednesday at co-host Lake Karrinyup Golf Club for the second and final stroke play round.
Team Canada teammates Joey Savoie (La Prairie, Que.) and Josh Whalen (Napanee, Ont.) sit T20 and T55, respectively.
The top 64 men and 32 women will advance to Thursday’s match play draw.
Impressive opening 68 by @Hbernard63 at @Wanneroogc to start #AusAm. And some bonus weather advice for those shivering at home in @TheGolfCanada. pic.twitter.com/l7sIYe8vgL
— Golf Australia (@GolfAust) January 16, 2018
Japan’s Yuna Nishimura leads the women’s division at 6 under par; there are no Canadians in the field.
The Amateur Championships are Australia’s oldest golfing events, dating back to 1894.
Past winners include Michael Clayton, Michael Campbell, Mat Goggin, Brett Rumford, Kristie Smith and Nikki Campbell, and more recently Cameron Smith, newly crowned Australian Open champion Cameron Davis, former world No.1 Lydia Ko, Minjee Lee and current world No.12 Hye-Jin Choi, who won in 2017.
With both champions receiving exemptions into their respective Australian Opens, they are the most prized titles in Australian amateur golf.
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