Illawarra Academy of Sport Graduate Travis Smyth is still brimming with confidence despite falling just short in his bid to win the Australian Men’s Amateur titles on Sunday. The 21-year-old rising star fought hard but couldn’t overcome highly-rated Scotsman Connor Syme in a thrilling 36-hole matchplay finale. Syme prevailed 3&2 to claim the tournment after four days of matchplay at the Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne. Smyth trailed his rival for the majority of the match, but refused to lie down despite Syme’s sizzling form through the first 18 holes. Syme led by five with nine holes to go before Smyth rallied to birdie the 12th, 13th and 14th to give himself hope of an amazing fightback. Unfortunately he would fall just short. “It was awesome. He both played so well throughout the week but we has the better player on the day and deserved to win,” Smyth said. “He is such a good player. A real gun. “If you had told me at the start of the week ‘Trav, you are going to make the final this week but are going to lose’, I would have taken it. “I have learnt a lot and it has built a lot of confidence. “I am feeling good going into most of the amateurs.” Smyth won through to the final after a couple of tough wins in the early rounds. He beat Switzerland’s Alessandro Noseda 1 up in round one before beating Australia’s Blake Collyer and Josh Armstrong in rounds two and three. His quarter and semi final wins came in much more convincing fashion as he beat Scotland’s Grant Forrest 4&3 and Aussie Austin Bautista 5&3 to set up his final clash with Syme. It capped off a ‘massive couple of weeks’ for Smyth. “The tournament was my 15th day in a row,” Smyth said. “I got a bit sloppy and made a couple of bad tee shots but really scrambled well. “I was a bit fatigued in the final and it was survival of the fittest a bit. “He played well so take nothing away from him on the day.” Smyth will play in the Lake Macquarie International in Newcastle next week before the NSW Amateur Championship takes place a week later. He hopes to go one better in his state title. “Being from here I would love to win that tournament,” Smyth said. “It will be 72 holes then the final 32 will be seeded into matchplay where 1 plays 32, and so on. I have played a lot of matchplay over the past few years so you just have to stick to your own game and play your best to get the win.” Smyth is planning on turning professional in the not too distant future. “I think at some stage in the next 12-15 months,” he said. “I really want to dominate on the amateur circuit for a while and really make a name for myself. “The better you are, more people are approaching you to play. “I am planning on continuing to work with my team to try to get better before i make that move.”
