Justice Bosio isn’t sure whether the old adage about third-time lucky works in golf, but she certainly hopes so.

Bosio, the 20-year-old Queenslander who will lead the local charge on the women’s side at the adidas Australian Amateur beginning on Tuesday in the Melbourne sandbelt, was runner-up in both the 2022 and 2023 championships.

At New South Wales Golf Club last year she had a putt that would have put her in a playoff but missed and had to concede honours to Japan’s Mizuki Hashimoto. As it happened, she was not aware of the consequences. “I thought someone had gone lower,” she said.

A year earlier, in 2022 at Cranbourne on the outskirts of Melbourne, she was in second place but three shots shy of New Zealand’s Fiona Xu at the national amateur.

“It’s always nice to win at home and who knows? This could be my last Aussie Amateur, so it would be great to get it done,” said Bosio, a Karrie Webb Scholarship-holder from Caboolture.

The Golf Australia High Performance team member has had a rough time recently with illness that impacted her momentum.

After playing the ISPS HANDA Australian Open in Sydney she headed to Melbourne for a start in the Sandbelt Invitational, but felt so ill after three rounds that she had to withdrew. A positive Covid test the next morning explained all of that.

“I’d had it before, but this time I felt worse,” she said.

“I just haven’t played that much because I’ve been too sick. I didn’t have the best end of my year in 2023 but I’ve had some good prep time recently so I’m excited.”

Back to full health in recent weeks, she has been working hard back at Caboolture Golf Club in preparation for this week at Yarra Yarra and Keysborough.

“It’d be great to get that win,” she said. “Those last two years at the amateur, I didn’t do anything wrong. I played the best I could and it wasn’t quite enough.

“That’s going to be the game plan again this week. I’m just going to play my best and see what that brings me.”

It is the beginning of a stretch of important golf for the Aussie who has previously won two Keperra Bowls and the South Australian Amateur. In a fortnight she will represent Australia at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific tournament in Thailand.

In August she plans on trying her luck at the LPGA Tour school when she will finally take the plunge and turn professional.

A couple of Bosio’s teammates for Thailand later this month will be strong challengers to her hopes this week, including Bendigo’s Jazy Roberts who played so well at the national Open last month, and Sarah Hammett, the 17-year-old Queenslander who has earned rave reviews, as well as Adelaide’s Caitlin Peirce.

But the women’s field is chock full of overseas stars including Japan’s Saori Iijima, an 18-year-old with a plus-eight handicap.

The defending champion, Japan's Hashimoto, is also in the field and defending.

Tee times and scoring