New South Welshwoman Sarah Kemp shot a superb 4 under par round of 69 to take out the BWAC Regional Employment Services ALPG Pro-am in Yamba today.

Kemp, who hails from the NSW town of Forster just three hours south of Yamba, played a near flawless round on the testing Yamba layout in ideal conditions to win by a shot from Norwegian star Tonje Daffinrud, Canberran Kristen Farmer and South Australian Stephanie Na who all shot 3 under par rounds of 70.

The win was Kemp’s eighth ALPG victory and her first since her win at the Brisbane Invitational in 2015. The 31-year-old has obviously taken a liking to the testing Yamba Golf and Country Club layout, having finished third and fifth in her previous two visits, and was delighted to return to the winners circle after an up and down 2016 season which saw her lose her full playing status on the USLPGA Tour. Kemp flew her coach John Serhan to Adelaide for the recent ISPS Women’s Australian Open and the pair worked tirelessly on her putting which has been her Achilles heel in recent times.
“ I have been hitting the ball really well for the past sixth months and just not making any putts which has been so frustrating. At the Oates Vic Open I played great from tee to green and putted awful so John came to Adelaide and that’s all we did was just smash the putting all week. I had been taking the putter back inside and hooking my putts so while it was definitely better today it is still a work in progress and will take some time to settle in.”

Kemp still has partial status on the US Tour and will play the next four events on the Ladies European Tour before focusing on the LPGA Tour on the second half of the season.
“I will get in a few LPGA events in the middle of the season so I am looking forward to getting back out there and making the most of my opportunities”

Kemp’s next event will be the World Ladies Championship which will be held at Mission Hills Resort, Haikou Island, China from 17-19 March where she will be joined by Stacey Peters, Rebecca Artis and Whitney Hillier.

There were also another couple of battles being fought today at Yamba, the 2017 ALPG ClubCar Series was also decided, with West Australian rookie sensation Hannah Green taking out the first place bonus cheque of $6500, Rebecca Artis was second taking home a cheque for $3500, Whitney Hillier finished in third place winning $2500, ALPG rookie Emily McLennan was fourth winning $1500 while Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh finished in 5^th place winning $1000.

The other sub-plot unfolding was for what has been fondly nicknamed the “McYamba Cup” by the players. McLeod Country Golf Club and Yamba Golf Club had together come up with a bonus of $5000 for the leading player across both events, and obviously it was going to take a big effort for one of the top finishers at Yamba to get past Ellen Davies-Graham who had won the Brisbane Invitational two days earlier at McLeod. 
While Davies Graham was clearly disappointed with her three over par round of 76 today a smile quickly returned to her face when it was established that she was the winner of the 2017 McYamba Cup and the $5000 bonus.

Noel Galvin, the title sponsor was once again delighted with how the day had gone “It is a privilege to be associated with the ALPG Tour and these ladies”

For final results and prizemoney go to http://alpg.com.au/tournament.php?id=4823&pid=1150

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