BGC excels at Greg Norman Junior

Young gun, Chase Oberle, led some outstanding BGC junior performances, and capped off an extraordinary 2024 by winning the Greg Norman Junior Masters on the Gold Coast.

The 17-year-old Brisbane Golf Club member was crowned Overall Boys Champion following rounds of 67-69-66-72 for a 10-under total of 274 at Palmer Gold Coast during the week.

He joins an illustrious list of Australian golfing super stars, including Karrie Webb, Adam Scott, Grace Kim, Minjee Lee and Cameron Smith, who have won the prestigious event. He also joins Adam, Cameron and Andrew Buckle as the only junior to have won the Greg Norman, Gary Player and Queensland Junior titles in the same year.

“I am very excited, and extremely happy, with my results this year,” he said after recovering from two shots down at the turn in the final round on Thursday.

“Harrison Gomez pushed me all the way after I stumbled on the front nine and suffered a five-shot swing. But I was proud of the way I dug in on the second nine, turned it around, and finally won by two.”

And Chase was not the only BGC member to win at the Greg Norman Masters. Fifteen-year-old Demos Drakos – with scores of 74-74-72-73 – was crowned the Under 15 Boys Champion.

It was the first major win for the 1.1 handicapper, who has drawn confidence from the success of his friend Chase.

“Demos showed a lot of maturity, and a different side of himself, in this event,” revealed his proud dad, Dean.

“Chase advised him the night before the final round to ‘just play golf, and not think about the trophy’. And I’m sure he took more notice of that tip than anything his dad might have told him.”

As well as the Greg Norman, Chase (current GA handicap plus 4.8) has this year won the prestigious Gary Player Classic, the Queensland Junior Amateur, and the Victorian Junior Open, as well as the South Australian Junior Masters. He also put together five unbeaten rounds during the Australian School Sport Championships in Canberra earlier in the year, and was subsequently selected in the All-Australian team, and named captain.

But his brilliant year was not just at home. Chase represented Australia at the USGA V GA match at Sentry World USA, the IMG Academy World Junior Championships in Torrey Pines, San Diego, and played in Japan, representing Australia at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup.

In his final event for 2024, Chase is currently playing the Sandbelt Invitational over four Melbourne courses.

Other BGC members who performed well at the Greg Norman Masters were: Aahan Anand (tied second), Justin Lee (tied fifth) and Carter Bryce (ninth) in the under 13 Boys; Darwin Butsamalee (tied second) and Tony Cho (tied fourth) Under 18 Boys; Anna Chen (seventh) Under 13 girls; Emily Wei (second) Under 15 Girls. – TONY DURKIN