Old and new sheen at Curlewis Blitz

Matt Millar from Canberra and the Montana Strauss from Melbourne share the loot after a great Blitz Golf on Curlewis. Photo: PGA of Australia

A familiar face and a new face shared the honor when Blitz Golf started the Australian tournament season of 2019 on Friday.

Canberra veteran Matt Millar won the men's title to continue where he left off after being named the PGA of the Australian player of the year in 2018.

And just a few minutes later, in the innovative format, the young Victoria Montana Strauss, who made the leap of amateur racing only five months ago, won her first professional title in the ALPG division.

A beautifully elaborated Curlewis course on Victoria's Bellarine Peninsula was the host for the second Blitz Golf tournament, a great one-day tournament concept that debuted in Glenelg last year.

And one day with wild weather changes, with temperatures in the middle of the 40s for a scorching southern change that let the temperature drop by more than 20 degrees, it was the consistency of Millar that shone through.

The format – with the field each time smaller after groups of nine, six and then three holes – brought together Millar, hometown favorite Deyen Lawson, Vic Open champion Simon Hawkes and WA Open champion Zach Murray for a shoot-out with one hole on Curlewis & # 39; characteristic 18th hole.

It only took one time to finish Miller's test track with his par enough in stormy winds when Murray found the water, Hawkes broke and Lawson could not go all the way up and down the back of the green.

"I am very happy to get the Curlewis Blitz out," Millar said.

"I played well this morning and had three under in the first round to continue and then played reasonably well in the other two rounds.

"I love the Blitz Golf concept, we do not want traditional golf, but it's great to change it with a different style. You can play well, you can play badly or you can play on average and you would you can stay there all day or you can be turned off early.

"Last year Glenelg played along, especially with scoring.For starters you might think that with 20 men in one bracket two or three must shoot (to move forward), but now we have seen that it does not work that way .

"Knowing that you do not have to press, especially if it was heavy this afternoon, I think that experience has helped and was a great asset."

The ALPG final was contested by Strauss, the local Adele Huggard, Grace Lennon and Bree Arthur and it took a 2 m par link by Strauss at the first sudden death to extend the final with Huggard.

The second time in the last hole, Strauss played a long-distance shot to the middle of the green and was immediately in the box when Huggard's approach seeped through the back.

In the end, three putts turned out to be enough for Strauss, as Huggard twice missed opportunities to put pressure on her fellow Victorian who just made her third professional start.

"I am pretty excited and happy with the win," Strauss said.

"This was really different, it's not something you usually see in golf tournaments, I liked having different playing partners every round, and I really enjoyed the day."

Another young Curlewis golfer, the upcoming Ben Henkel kept his guts to win the amateur ranking of fellow-local Nick Unsworth and AFL champ Brendon Goddard on the second hole of their play-off