One of the Australia’s leading amateurs, Kade Webber has plans to tackle the Australasian Tour school next April.
WHEN golf-mad Kade Webber was just 12, he was devastated when tournament officials knocked back his offer to caddie in the 2015 NSW Open at his home course of Stonecutters Ridge.
They believed the Grade 6 student would not be able to carry a heavy tour bag for 18 holes, let alone for the 72 holes of a major tournament.
But they hadn’t counted on the courage and persistence of young Kade, and when journeyman professional Jason King found himself short of a bagman, club pro Steve Gannon persuaded officials to give the 135cm Kade a chance.
The pair made the cut, ensuring they would play the full four days, testing the stamina of the youngster, but rewarding him with an experience he’ll likely never forget.
Recalling the moment, Webber, now 20, said that after 36 holes he was not sure King had done enough to qualify for the weekend rounds.
“It was a hot day and after the second round I went swimming with my mates and got really sunburnt,” he said. “Lugging that big bag around with sunburnt shoulders was really tough, but I didn’t say anything.”
Webber’s come a long way since then, now rated one of NSW’s top amateurs and already contemplating a career as a professional golfer.
In April he shot rounds of 68, 71 and 68 to win the Alice Springs Open by three strokes – his second straight win in an event that always attracts a strong field of amateurs seeking World Ranking points.
His victory followed a string of consistent performances that saw Webber finish second in February’s Avondale Amateur, top 10 in this year’s Keperra Bowl and Concord Cup, and ninth in the Malaysian Amateur Open just before Christmas.
He was runner-up in three straight NextGen tournaments last October and November, and won that circuit’s Order of Merit honours in 2024.
Kade Webber, winner of the Alice Springs Open.
Webber visited the United Kingdom last year to test his game against the world’s best amateurs in the British and Scottish Amateur Championships.
Though he missed the cut in both events he learned a lot.
“It was a real eye-opener,” he said. “There were 270-odd players, and all of them were very good.
“It was so tough – not just on the golf course, but travelling from place to place, the language issues, lugging 25kg bags, taxis – everything’s so expensive,” he said.
Despite all that he would have gone back this year but couldn’t raise the necessary funds. Instead he’ll remain in Australia and contest every event he can.
A member at Stonecutters Ridge since he took up the game as a seven-year-old, Webber moved to Concord last year on a scholarship, and said he relished the chance to work hard on his game with experienced players and coaches.
He played A grade pennants with Concord this year, going through the season undefeated. That was until the final, which Concord lost to NSW 4-3, Webber dropping the deciding match one- down, after missing short putts on the final two greens.
Away from the course, Webber works with his dad Mark, a landscaper.
He describes him as ‘a real tough guy’ and tells me how, on the morning we spoke, his father had slashed his calf on a tree branch, an ambulance taking him to hospital for an overnight stay.
“As he left with the paramedics he called out to me to keep on working,” Webber said.
One of Webber’s proudest achievements is winning the 2023 NSW Vardon Trophy, awarded to the amateur with the lowest average score over a series of designated events.
He played 27 qualifying rounds with an average of 71.62, tipping out Concord’s Coby Carruthers, who played 32 events for an average of 71.73.
Past winners of the NSW Vardon include Cameron Davis, Jordan Zunic, Brendan Jones, Brett Ogle, Paul Gow and 13-time winner, Tony Gresham of Pennant Hills.
Claiming he’s becoming ‘bored’ with amateur events, Webber plans to tackle Q School next April, hoping to secure a card for the Australasian Tour.
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