Sydney, Australia: Five weeks after being crowned 2023 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) winner, Jasper Stubbs added another notable piece of silverware to his trophy cabinet.

Thanks to a strong performance at The Australian and The Lakes golf clubs, the 21-year-old from Melbourne had the distinction of finishing as the low men’s amateur in the ISPS HANDA Australian Open.

Being the only male amateur to make the cut, Stubbs had the low amateur title locked away regardless of how he played on the weekend.

Nonetheless, with a closing two-under 69 at The Australian, Stubbs ended with a tournament total of six-under 279 to soar 16 spots for a share of 21st place.

“It was a great experience playing in my first home Open. At the start of the year, it was a goal of mine to be able to play and to make the cut,” said Stubbs, a member of Golf Australia’s High Performance Squad.

In a play-off at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in the last week of October, Stubbs edged the Chinese duo of Ding Wenyi and Samson Zheng to win the 14th edition of the AAC.

That triumph has earned him starting spots in two Majors next year – April’s Masters Tournament at Augusta National and July’s 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon in Scotland.

Stubbs will have another chance to brush shoulders with Australian Major champions Adam Scott and Cameron Smith at this week’s Cathedral Invitational at Victoria’s Catherdral Lodge & Golf Club.

Two other players who participated in last month’s AAC before turning professional made the cut in the Australian Open – Australian Jeffrey Guan (tied with Stubbs in 21st) and New Zealander Sam Jones (tied 48th, 283).

Among those to miss the cut were New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori (142) and Australians Harrison Crowe (143) and Jack Buchanan (147). All are now professionals.

Crowe won the AAC in 2022 and along with Buchanan was a member of the triumphant Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation team that defeated the European Golf Association in August’s Ryder Cup-style Bonallack Trophy in Spain.