YOUNG Chase Oberle couldn’t hide his disappointment after posting rounds of 73, 73 and 72 in the strokeplay stage of the Queensland Amateur Championship at Bribie Island in early September.
It hadn’t occurred to him that shooting two over par for 54 holes on a tight, tough golf course, against some of the best amateurs in the country, wasn’t at all a bad effort for a 16-year-old.
He was just devastated that he’d missed out on qualifying for the matchplay rounds – contested by the top 16 finishers in the strokeplay event.
“I came so close,” he told his mum Brooke, almost in tears.
Close indeed! Chase finished tied 21st after those 54 holes – just two strokes short of making the top 16 and vying for the title of Queensland’s best amateur. But, to Chase, it was a failure – and that’s something the young man just isn’t used to.
Just a fortnight earlier, Chase had dominated the Australian School Sports Championship in Canberra – winning the 36-hole strokeplay event at Royal Canberra, then rollicking through five unbeaten rounds of matchplay.
Young Queenslander Chase Oberle has turned in a number of remarkable results and achievements in 2024.
Along the way he notched a course record 64, shooting eight-under on the back nine of the Westbourne course. It’s a record, however, that will not be recognised because all golfers were playing preferred lies on the rain-affected course.
What will go into the record books is Chase’s 36-hole score of 72, 64 – good enough for a one stroke victory
Then, playing Number1 for the Queensland team in the matchplay component of the national championship, Chase scored four wins from his five matches, and halved the other with talented Western Australian Spencer Harrison. He finished top of the points tally, was selected in the All-Australian team, and named captain.
“We’re so proud of what he has achieved this year,” said mum Brooke. “Chase is a hard worker and is passionate about golf. He puts in the extra little one percenters, and it is definitely making a difference.”
A Year 11 student at St Augustine College at Springfield, Chase is a member of Brisbane Golf Club and has been part of the club’s Junior High Performance Program since its inception nearly three years ago.
Brisbane’s Director of Golf Joe Janison said: “The combination of his impressive skill and dedication to improvement will, I have no doubt, lead to more success in the future. I have a feeling the best is yet to come.”
Oberle was a standout at the Australian Schools Sports Championship in Canberra, winning the stroke play and proving to be a dominant force in the interstate matchplay series.
During a remarkably successful 2024, Chase has:
• won the South Australian Junior Masters at Royal Adelaide in January;
• represented Queensland in the Interstate Junior Series in Perth in April;
• represented Australia at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup in Japan in June;
• won the Queensland Junior Amateur at Nudgee by seven strokes with a 72-hole score of 11 under;
• been selected to represent Australia – as captain – in the inaugural USGA vs GA Junior Team, playing a Ryder Cup-style format at Sentry World, Wisconsin; and
• been selected to represent Australia at the IMG Academy World Junior Championships at Torrey Pines, San Diego.
Chase is also a member of the Brookwater and McLeod Golf Club’s and is currently club champion of both. He won the Brookwater championship in March for the third successive year and has been McLeod’s champion for the past four years.
He was also a member of Brisbane Golf Club’s Division One team which won its third Brisbane District Golf Association Pennant.
Chase has been coached by Emerald Lakes-based teaching pro Paul Williamson since he first started playing the game at the age of five at Brookwater.
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