Despite border issues a field of 90 players is entered for the South Australian Amateur starting on Monday near Adelaide.

A total 69 men and 21 women will make their way to Mt Osmond Golf Club for the titles, including 27 players from Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales, as well as one player from Victoria who relocated in February.

The South Australian border with NSW opened this week. A handful of players took the chance to register in the hope that they could play, and they have been rewarded with playing spots. Another four NSW players took late entries after the announcement was made on Tuesday, according to Golf Australia SA operations manager Leah Tattersall.

The men’s field includes the winners of the past three men’s titles – Lewis Hoath (2019), Lochie Coleborn (2018) and Jake Hughes (2017). Local star Jack Williams, who won the amateur title in 2012 and 2014, also is playing after regaining his amateur status.

Jack Thompson shapes as the top local hope, having finished runner-up in the Isuzu Queensland Open in February before the Coronavirus interruptions to the season.

Thompson won the Riversdale Cup in 2018 in Melbourne and was also third in the Master of the Amateurs tournament earlier this year and interestingly, has his partner Sarah Wilson from Queensland in the women’s field next week.

Last year’s women’s winner, Victorian Kono Matsumoto, was unable to defend because of the closure of the border with Victoria. However South Australians Jin-Young Yun and Ella Adams have returned from college in the United States because of Covid-19 issues, and are in the field.

The SA Amateur dates to the early 1900s in both men’s and women’s divisions.

Mt Osmond Golf Club, 15 minutes south-east of Adelaide CBD, is an old club with sensational views of the city, the Mt Lofty Ranges and the coastline. Sir Donald Bradman, arguably Australia’s greatest sportsman, won the club championship twice.

The SA Amateur begins with strokeplay on Monday and Tuesday, after which the top 32 men and the top 16 women progress to the matchplay section. The 36-hole finals are played next Friday.

Tournament details