GOLF

BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

 

EXCITING times are on the horizon for Latrobe Valley golfer Paul Andrijczak after claiming the Australian and South Australian Mid Amateur Championship.

Played out of McCracken Country Club, Andrijczak stood tall through hefty conditions and kept his nose in front all the way through, taking home his first state and national title on the same day.

Given little time to celebrate, he has already undertaken tournaments in the following weeks after the win, which includes an Australian Open Qualifier beginning this week.

Pleased with the performance and in earning the duel silverware, Andrijczak now sits 14th in the Order of Merit for Victorian golf.

“Obviously, I was psyched with the opportunity to play for a state and national title in one hit,” he told the Express.

“In the moment, I was a bit numb to it really and then only after I spoke with my parents did the gravity of (winning) kind of hit them and then probably myself.”

Notching eight birdies and finishing 2-under at the end of the first day of play, the field of players were then dealt difficult measures during the final stretch.

“We were expecting 50km/h winds out of the west, and McCracken’s kind of built on the side of the hill and it faces west, so the wind just comes rip-roaring straight into the golf course,” Andrijczak said.

This added to the fact that this was the soon-to-be winner’s first time ever playing at McCracken, but Andrijczak noted he favoured the challenge.

“Going into the last day, I was comfortable knowing that I was in a good spot being that I was in front by one shot in front of four other people, and I kind of had a bit of a game plan for playing in the wind,” he said.

“I enjoy the difficult, windy conditions where you’ve got to hit golf shots, it’s not just your stock standard hitting a normal driver off tee.

“It was more of a case of avoiding making bogeys and other big mistakes rather than trying to go lights out to win because the conditions were really tough.”

Squalls revealed themselves during this period, forcing play to go into intermission for a while, but Andrijczak returned and comfortably finished the job.

“Two of the last three holes were dead into the wind and really tricky with water… I was happy to get through those relatively unscathed,” he said.

“I was pretty proud of the fact that I managed to not give up the lead at all at any stage.”

Andrijczak will get the chance to defend his title at next year’s Australian and Victoria Mid Amateur Championship in August, while he has also received entry via the win into the Australian Amateur Championship in Western Australia this February, for which he has previously played in.

However, the local amateur now turns his full attention to the Australian Open Qualifiers at Woodlands Golf Club this week, which sees just two players from a pool of 96 advance to the major tournament.

Andrijczak took up golf later in life after years spent on the tennis court in his youth, meaning it wasn’t always suspected that this type of Australian Open would be the one he’d be chasing.

“I’ve worked pretty hard since I took it up and so that’s been kind of a dream of mine to make it into the Australian Open, so that’s what I’m pushing for,” he said.

Andrijczak has played in multiple amateur championships in recent times, including the 2024 Victorian Open, and appeared at the Traralgon Pro-Am Classic at the beginning of October.

He noted his enjoyment of tournament golf over club golf, for which he plays upwards of 30 high-stakes and competitive events per year, filling out a non-stop calendar.

“I love the competition like the proper stroke play, every shot counts,” he said.

“There’s way more juice in tournament golf than club golf for me, and that’s where I love putting myself out there… and playing where all the chips are down.”

Andrijczak also recently took out the Country Week Shield at Mildura with a number of local golfers, which undoubtedly boosted confidence heading towards his national and state title win.

Playing out of Traralgon Golf Club and Southern Golf Club in Braeside, many of his connections and supports come from Golf Australia’s local sector at Golf West Gippsland.

“I just want to express my thanks to all of the members of the clubs in Golf West Gippsland and thank the Golf West Gippsland executive for all of their well wishes… I’ve really appreciated it,” he said.