Cameron Davis wins Sandbelt Invitational after incredible driver off the deck
Cameron Davis edged out New Zeland’s Momoka Kobori by a single shot to secure the Sandbelt Invitational trophy.
Playing across four different courses with a field comprising professional and amateur men and women the innovative Sandbelt Invitational culminated in a dramatic finish at Peninsula Kingswood.
Cameron Davis managed to sneak across the line at the epic Peninsula Kingswood north course thanks to an incredible driver off the deck on the penultimate hole.
— Jordan Haynes (@jthaynes17) December 22, 2022
Davis’ driver from the fairway on the 17th hole was a gutsy play considering he was tied for the lead with Momoka Kobori and there isn’t much room to run your ball up onto the green.
The shot was one of the ages as Golf Australia’s Jimmy Emanuel reported:
It was matching pars from there until the penultimate hole, where the club that most clearly separated the pair all week proved the difference.
Finding the right side of the fairway from the tee, Davis uncorked a driver off the deck that skirted its way between the bunkers short right and those greenside left to sit just beyond the pin.
“I have hit a lot of good drivers off the deck under pressure in the past,” Davis told Golf Australia magazine of the shot. “I haven’t played it as much over the last few months, but I feel like even though I don’t practice it that much, under pressure if I put a good swing on it I kind of know what it is going to do, and that was a situation where I wanted to take the aggressive play and it worked out pretty well.”
Kobori made Davis work for the overall title and clearly was the best female player in the field this week breaking the women’s course record at Royal Melbourne West (67) and Yarra Yarra Golf Club (68). Kobori’s nearest rival finished 20 strokes further back.
American golf podcast, website, and social media group The Fire Pit Collective has been in Melbourne covering the event and caught up with Geoff Ogilvy and women’s winner Momoka Konori.