Over the last couple of years the Williamson family has taken a serious liking to Yarra Bend Golf Club.
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In late 2015 Mitch and Nicole claimed the men’s and women’s Australian Open titles, respectively, at the picturesque Victorian course while Carrie finished second in the latter division.
Mitch set a new world record score to do so too.
Last weekend at the same course, the trio replicated those results with Mitch and Nicole successfully defending their titles and Carrie once again pushing her sister the entire way to finish second, although the former didn’t record another new world’s best mark this time around.
He was formally presented with a memento to mark his world record – which still stands – though.
“It was a great weekend, we love getting down there,” Mitch Williamson said.
Faced with a longer course and a stellar field which included world No.1 Jamie Young and new New Zealand champion Steve Holloway, Mitch Williamson wasn’t daunted.
Carrying his clubs without a bag – as has become the trend as speedgolf has evolved – Williamson shot an 11-over 81 and clocked an incredible time of 33 minutes and 44 seconds.
He finished almost 10 minutes faster than second-placed Young, and he needed too considering the American shot a magnificent, one-over score of 72 in 43.14.
“I could have slowed down a bit and maybe shot a better score off the stick, but my philosophy is go as fast as I can because if I did slow down, there’s no guarantee I’ll play better anyway. It worked well last weekend,” he explained.
A player’s time is added to their scratch mark to determine their final score, as a result Williamson’s overall tally of 114 proved to be just one shot better than Young’s (115), showing just how crucial his speed across the course was.
Holloway (120) was five shots further back in third.
Nicole Williamson was equally as impressive in defending her title.
She clocked 43.02 and shot 92 off the stick to finish with 135 overall, trumping second-placed Carrie (101 in 56.18, for 157) by 22 shots overall, with Carol Whitehouse (158) in third.
“Nicole played well, she’s really improved in the running side of things and we were both about 10 shots over our actual golf handicaps but that’s speedgolf in a way,” Mitch Williamson said.
“Carrie has just got back to running, she’s had a lot of injuries and had about eight months off so she’s only been back running for a few weeks. She did well too.
“I think we all know we can play a bit better than we did, but we’re happy with the way it went.”
Mitch and Nicole’s wins, as per usual at the Australian Open, qualifies the pair for Speedgolf World Championship, should they decide to compete.
“We’re not sure what’s really going on there, the date for the worlds hasn’t been set yet. It’s self-funded too, so it is hard to get to these events at times but we’re considering it. We’ll see what’s happening once everything is sorted out and go from there,” Mitch said.
Tyrone Rudman was Orange’s other competitor, he played well to finish middle of the pack in the men’s amateur division. All four were also representing team Pre Running.