His final round 70 after an opening 76 denied Noah Best, a member of Port Fairy and Warrnambool golf clubs, a home-town win. Best, 16, led into the final round of the 36-hole event but Crabbe prevailed by a shot, to claim both the under 18 Western District Golf Association championship and Sungold Open. 

Crabbe, 16, said consistency and luck were key to his three birdies in a dramatic final four holes as he overcame a three-shot deficit to Best, his 17 and under state team mate, who finished with rounds of 74 and 73.

“I just kept the ball in play and tried to hit a few greens,” the Geelong resident said. “Then a couple of putts started to drop and I managed two birdies on the 14^th and 15^th holes.”

Colac’s Georiga Fish completed a successful three days with her second consecutive Sungold Open victory to go with her Alex Calvert triumph on Sunday.

Fish, who finished with a gross total of 147, built on her overnight lead to defeat Spring Valley’s Tiana Wanigasekera by nine shots.

The 17-year-old said she was ecstatic about the win.

“It feels really good to win it two years in a row,” she said. “Last year I didn’t play as well as I would have liked and I just wanted to beat my scores from last year and just concentrate more on the course than what score I’m on.”

Home-town golfers Jai Casamento and Riley Scanlon carried the flag for the south-west in the other divisions on Tuesday.

Casamento held off fellow club member Will McKenzie to claim the under 18 handicap with a nett total of 142. Scanlon, who shot a nett 142, took home some silverware in the under 15 handicap after defeating Colac’s Thomas Hanson by 17-shots. 

Colac’s Max Miraglia shot a gross total of 158 to pip Warrnambool’s Logan Lilley by five-shots in the under 15 scratch.

Inverleigh’s Ella Rogers triumphed over her sister Ava in the girls 36 stableford with a total of 54 points, while Warrnambool’s Rory Campbell-Gavin (61 points) defeated clubmate Ryan Fleming by two points in the boys stableford.