Bailey Goodall has capped his remarkable and glittering junior career in the best possible way.
Winning a crunch play-off to claim his third consecutive Victorian Junior Country Regions title.
The Shepparton teenager, fresh off his Victorian Junior Open triumph in October, waved goodbye to life as a junior in stunning fashion and ends that stage of his career as one of the best in the state.
Goodall, who turns 18 next month, was made to earn his tournament win.
Played at Heathcote and Belvoir Park golf clubs, the teenager finished even par from the two rounds ― tied on 141 alongside Jesper Wallace.
It forced a play-off hole between the two emerging Victorian talents.
A par each on the opening hole of the play-off forced a second attempt to find a winner.
It was Goodall who held his nerve on the par-four sixth and putted out to clinch a historic win.
The gun talent opened up on how he had to handle a swathe of emotions on the final day after he wrongly assumed the event would end on a countback and a win to Wallace.
“Well that’s the third year I’ve won in a row and it was good to finish my junior career in that way. It was my last ever junior tournament,” he said.
“At the end I thought it would have been decided on a countback, which would have seen me lose, so I was pretty annoyed. But I was relieved when they said it would go to a play-off because I thought I lost it.
“It was a good weekend; I didn’t play my best, but I was still good enough to get it done, which was nice.”
Goodall revealed it was his maiden play-off experience.
And while he understood what was required in order to win, the possibility of losing on the first hole was an eye-opener for the young gun.
“That was my first one (play-off), I’ve never experienced one before,” the Notre Dame student said.
“I know how they go, but it’s a bit different knowing it could end after one hole.
“We both parred the first play-off hole and then he drove into the trees on the second.
“I was confident (during the play-off) I had been hitting it pretty good. I didn’t hit the greatest tee shot on the second hole, but seeing his shot go into the trees, that relieved the pressure a little bit, it was unlikely I was going to lose from there.
“I hit my second on the green and that sort of took a little bit of stress out of it knowing I only needed to two putt to win.”
The Victorian Junior Country Regions win marked the closure of Goodall’s junior journey, with a step up into the amateur circuit fast approaching.
The Shepparton Golf Club reigning champion will head to a “couple of big amateur events” while February’s Victorian Open has him return to the venue of his Junior Open triumph.
But before he heads to his first pro event, Goodall says he’ll spend the next couple of weeks working on his game, celebrating his 18th birthday and finishing his homework.