PORT Fairy golfer Joanna Flaherty is chasing a maiden Commonwealth Golf Club championship.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Warrnambool-based amatuer will use the Golf Victoria Dunes Medal this week to finetune for the 36-hole Commonwealth final against teenager Alex Hilliard on Sunday.
Flaherty and Hilliard are staying together in Rye throughout the Dunes Medal.
“We are good friends and it will be played in good spirits,” Flaherty said of the Commonwealth grand final.
“She won last year. It’s my first time in the final.
“I bombed out in the semi-finals the last two years, so it’s pretty exciting to make the final this year.”
Flaherty, 22, said she felt prepared for the decider but was aware she was pitted against an emerging opponent.
She won her quarter-final 6-4 and semi-final 7-6 on Sunday.
“I have had members help me read the greens and I’ve learned my way around the course and the best way to play it,” Flaherty said.
“I just want to go out there and play my own game. Alex is a strong opponent and putts well, which is important in matchplay. My putting has been good lately and I’ve been driving the ball well.”
Flaherty had a practice round at the Dunes links on Monday in readiness for the 72-hole event which starts on Tuesday. She is hoping to make the national-ranking tournament’s cut.
“It’s a links course and open like home at Port Fairy,” she said.
“But it’s a lot harder, very hilly, there’s a lot more bunkers and the greens are sloping and very quick.”