Stars swing their way to top again

IN a rinse and repeat of the results of the Coomealla and Robinvale opens, Cam Stewart and Stephanie Baker are now the king and queen of the Red Cliffs Golf Club.

Three of the last four open events have gone the way of Stewart and Baker, who have been in superb form across the courses of Sunraysia.

Men’s open winner Stewart began with a three-under-par 69 in his opening round on Saturday and while he was one over on Sunday, his overall two-under 142 was enough to finish ahead of home course star Daryl Morgan (71/74 – 145).

Stewart said his work on the greens held him in good stead.

“It was a good round, pretty steady,” Stewart said.

“The putting saved me a few times. The greens were pretty good, which helped that.

“The second round was also a bit scratchy but the putter worked for me again.”

Stewart said his recent form could be credited to some tweaks in his technique.

“Around Christmas time one of my friends had a look at my swing and we made a few tweaks and changes to it, and made myself a bit more aligned with my putting as well,” he said.

Meanwhile Baker, who is a member of elite junior programs in Victoria, shot rounds of 75 and 78 with her overall 153 seeing her finish well ahead of Coomealla’s Lee Bottomley (81/81 – 162).

Alongside her open titles, Baker, 16, also won the inaugural Sunraysia Junior Golf Week title in April.

“I’m three for three (in opens) so far this year so I can’t complain,” Baker said.

“I’ve been hitting big drives. I’ve been working on my swing speed with my coach Mike McKenzie, who has been so good for me over the past few years.

“My first round was alright, second round I had a few too many bogeys.”

Next up for Baker is the 72-hole Victorian Junior Amateur Open in early July at Cobram Barooga, where she hopes to improve on her 15th place finish from last year.

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