Johan Kammerstad shoots stunning 73 to win Australian All Abilities Championship

Johan Kammerstad knew he hadn’t shown his best in the early rounds of the Australian All Abilities Championship, presented by ISPS Handa.

Words by Mark Hayes at Golf Australia

But today, when it came, it was simply overwhelming.

The bearded Swede’s stellar short game roasted his opposition; his one-over-par 73 from the same tees remarkably better than 25 players in the concurrent Australian Open field’s final round.

Not that you’d have known his delight until the final putt dropped and a giant smile shone through as his dream of being the first name on the trophy was realised.

“Of course that was a main goal, to win, but I know the guys are good, so I have to be at my best to beat them,” Kammerstad said.

“I’m really pleased.”

The world No.5 maintained throughout the week that the generous galleries who’d come to watch the world-first tournament did not affect his game as he’d managed to concentrate well.

But he admitted that his rifled approach to the par-five 14th moved his needle.

“Yeah, there were a bunch of guys up there, I hit a 7-iron to a metre and I thought the roof was going to come off,” he beamed.

“My coach has it on video, so it’s going to be fun to watch.”

Kammerstad set the tone for his round with the first of five birdies of his final round dropping from almost 10m on the tough second hole.

“And then I played pretty solidly, I wasn’t in (much) trouble. I was on the third, but I managed to squeeze out a bogey any way. Then I made a couple of birdies on the back nine as well.”

It was all too much for the field to respond, with Ireland’s Brendan Lawlor second and Belgium’s Adem Wahbi left to the podium positions after each thrilled the crowds with their strokeplay throughout.

Kammerstad, effectively on behalf of his colleagues, paid tribute to the vision, particularly of Christian Hamilton, that brought the tournament to life.

“Yeah. I don’t want to compete again unless it’s on these conditions,” he beamed.

“It was very special. I hope it stays the same, it’s perfect.”