The 2023 PGA Associate National Championship has finished in dramatic fashion with Levi Sclater winning in a playoff over Xander Basson at Cobram Barooga Golf Club.
The pair were tied at 9-under after 72 holes, and a sudden-death playoff that lasted three holes was required to decide a winner.
Sclater played steady golf all week, while Basson, an international entrant from South Africa, climbed the leaderboard on the final day with a 6-under 66.
Originally from Sale in Victoria’s south-east, Sclater is currently in his first year in the Membership Pathway Program (MPP), working out of Rossdale Golf Club in Melbourne.
A long par save on the second playoff hole from Sclater meant that a third hole was needed. Basson went long with his second shot and was unable to get up-and-down which handed the championship to Sclater.
“I think I had two bogey-free rounds, and really didn’t do a heap wrong the whole week,” he said.
“It’s awesome to win, I’m super stoked.
“At the start of the day, that’s all I really wanted, and I just believed in myself and finally got it done in a playoff.”
Sclater’s win books him a spot in the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland later this month, where he will be teeing it up alongside the likes of Cam Smith, Lucas Herbert, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott and many more Aussie and international stars.
“I can’t wait to go up there and give it a crack with the best pros in Australia,” he said.
**Levi was a junior member at the Sale GC and a regular in Golf East Gippsland Junior teams. GEG has also been very proud of Levi's achievements and wish him well in his upcoming events**
