The 50th Women’s Riversdale Cup gets underway this Friday, February 24, with the nation’s rising star Kristie Smith, of WA, leading the field of 92 players contesting the event.
The 113th Men’s Riversdale Cup will see World No.6 and 2007 Australian amateur champion Rohan Blizard, of NSW, heading the field of 160 players on March 7 and hoping to take the title from defending champion and 2006 Australian champion, Tim Stewart.
Both the Women’s and Men’s tournaments received record numbers of entries this year, reflecting the status of both events on the national amateur circuit. The Women’s Cup is now part of the Karrie Webb series, while the men’s takes on added prestige this year of being a selection event for the Australian team to play in the Eisenhower Cup in Adelaide later in the year.
Former Men’s Cup winners, Aaron Baddeley (1999) and Robert Allenby (1990 and 1991) have added their ‘voice’ to the tournament by becoming Ambassadors for the Cup.
Both the 72-hole Men’s and Women’s events will be preceded by the Australian Women’s and Men’s Foursomes Championships to be played at Riversdale on 22 February and 5 March respectively.
The 50th anniversary of the Women’s Cup will see the inaugural winner Burtta Cheney (right), now 91, return to the club for a special presentation ceremony to mark the occasion, along with a number of other winners, including the first Riversdale club member to win the Cup, Dorothy Walkingshaw, who is 90. Burtta won the Cup in 1959 and Dorothy, who was club champion nine times, won it the following year.Among the other winners to attend the ceremony tonight will be two former five-time winners Barbara Dillon (Coulson) and Louise Briers, along with and Vicky Thomas.
Among the top national and international players to join Kristie Smith are 2007 Queensland Champion Cecilia Nha (1); 2008 Philippine’s champion Chihiro Ikeda (2); 2007 Pleasington Putter tournament (UK) winner and 2006 Victorian champion Stacey Keating (0); and 2007 South Australian amateur champion, Ebony Heard (0) and runner–up Christine Trimmer (1.6)
In the Men’s Cup, 2007 champion Tim Stewart, of NSW, will face a tough field of leading European, Asian, New Zealand and United Kingdom players, including Scottish champion Callum Macauley, England’s Elite squad member Jamie Abbott, and New Zealand champion Danny Lee.
Golf Australia’s national squad members are also in the field, including Matthew Griffin, of Victoria; Justin Roach, of NSW; Matt Jager, of WA; Scot Arnold, NSW; Daniel Beckmann, Vic; Brett Rankin, of Qld; and Josh Younger, of Vic.
In International Team’s championship, which is played as part of the Riversdale Cup, will include all the State Teams from throughout Australia, along with England, Scotland, the Philippines, Korea, Singapore, and New Zealand.
History of the Riversdale Cup
1896 - and the tradition continues…
The Riversdale Cup is widely regarded as Australia’s premier amateur 72-hole golf championship. It is conducted traditionally each year at the Riversdale Golf Club, St. John’s Wood, in Melbourne over the Labor Day weekend.
Riversdale has proudly staged this tournament since its inception in 1896, making it the second oldest amateur golf tournament in Australia, behind the Australian Amateur Championship, which was first staged in 1894.
As Victoria’s leading amateur tournament, a special invitation is extended to the two leading amateur representatives from each State and countries in the Pacific region, as well as around the world to play in the International Teams Match each year. This event is staged concurrently with the Cup.
This year’s event will also be preceded by the Australian Amateur Foursomes Championship and the Women’s Riversdale Cup and the Australian Women’s Amateur Foursomes Championship. The Women’s Riversdale Cup is now a state and national selection tournament played over 72-holes and part of the Karrie Webb series.
First played…
The ‘Riversdale Cup’ was first played during an Open Amateur Meeting conducted when the Club was known as ‘Surrey Hills Golf Club’.
It was held on the Club’s Mont Albert Course from 22 to 25 May, 1896 and was known as the “Surrey Hills Gentlemen’s Championship, Gold Medal”. Royal Melbourne’s M. Anderson won the event, played over 36 holes, by defeating his club mate Balfour-Melville by three strokes. The ‘gold medal’ was valued at three guineas, plus a trophy valued at five guineas with the runners-up trophy valued at two guineas.
The Gold Medal Championship continued at Mont Albert until 1907, following which the Club moved to Camberwell and changed its name to the Riversdale Golf Club. Play was not possible in 1908, but resumed the following year when the Championship became known as the Riversdale Trophy.
In 1927 the Club moved to its present St. John’s Wood property, the home of Victoria’s Judge Sir Redmond Barry, who became famous as the judge who sentenced the bushranger and outlaw, Ned Kelly, to be hung.
The following year (1928), the Riversdale Trophy changed its name to the Riversdale Cup and has held that name ever since.
Top record…
Among some of the winners of the Cup are leading Australian professional Robert Allenby, who won the event twice in 1990 and 1991, Aaron Baddeley, Jarrod Moseley, Tom Crow (twice - 1960,61) and Lester Peterson (twice - 1992,1994).
The legendary Ivo Whitton was a four-time winner and the brilliant left-hander Harry Williams won it three times, along with the renowned Bill Britten.
However, the man affectionately known as “The Dart” because of his accuracy with irons, Kevin Hartley, virtually laid claim to the Cup in the 1960s and 70s, winning 10 times. On two occasions he won three on end - 1963, 64 and 65 and 1976, 77 and 78. It was Britten who defeated him in 1966, but he returned the following year to win the trophy again and successfully defended it the year after. In all, he won the Cup five times in the 1960s.
This year’s championship will see Tim Stewart, of NSW, return to defend his title and hopefully join the ranks of two-time winners.
For further information
Robert Taylor, General Manager Riversdale Golf Club: Tel -- 61 3 9807 1411