Weekends Pennant Action

The final round of the season finished with our Men fall short against Kooringal and narrowly missed making the final while the Women’s team had an unbelievable win against the odds to remain in Division 2 for next season edging out a hard-fought 4 & 3 victory. The Friday women finished off the season with a loss to Latrobe but also avoided relegation in their first season in Division 3, an outstanding effort! 

Men’s Pennant Rd 7

The men have finished off a successful year with a loss to Grand Finalist Kooringal 5 & 2, after some close losses and great wins the team has finished 4th. 

The final games results can be seen below with a detailed report to follow. 

Ruben Lal 4 & 2 loss

Scott Hooper 5 & 4 loss

Craig Dyer 5 & 3 loss

Blake Sorensen 2 & 1 loss

Lee Collinson 3 & 2 loss

Adrian Barandowski 5 & 4 win 

Rob Loft 2 & 1 win 

Women’s Pennant Rd 7

Report By Dean Phelan

And so the season comes down to this.

Hayley Peters on the 17th needing to chip over a bunker from the rough and her young opponent in the bunker. The green is surrounded by players and spectators as Hayley and caddie Andrew survey the appropriate landing spot. Too cute and she dumps it in the bunker and too long and she’s again in the bunker on the other side with no green to work with.

Team manager and a player this week, Jan Kreymborg was saying “c’mon Hayley, you practice this shot every day”

Ardent supporter Leigh Spratt was saying “s%!t, I can’t watch”….

Earlier in the day, the team set out with one mission. Win and stay in division 2, as a loss was almost certain relegation. It was going to be a tough ask. We were up against Peninsular Kingswood, we were down a couple of players and they were sitting 4th on the ladder

Caryn Tan led the team out this week and despite some magnificent driving she was three down early on. Pure ball striking got her back into the match as she clawed her way back to one down for a brief time before her more experienced opponent took control. One match down but caddie Steve Smythe echoed the comments from the week before saying that Caryn will be a star in pennant before too long. Great stuff Caryn.

Next out was Rosemary Baxter. Two down after three and still that figure at the turn. With Team Manager Jan taking to playing duties, Leigh Spratt took it upon herself to give the ladies some much needed guidance as they came through the turn. She must have said something inspirational to Rosemary as she won 11 and 12 before flying away for a 3/1 victory. A really well deserved win after another great year Rosemary and great to see caddie David Halligan so chuffed with the victory too.

Hayley Peters was next out but I’ll get back to her later.

Sue Semmens went out at 4 and decided that bringing husband Roger along to watch again might have been the lucky charm she needed. Unfortunately she opened her round with a duffed shot and followed it up with (and I’m being generous) a pushed chip. Fortunately she managed to halve the hole with a bogey. The remainder of the match ebbed and flowed depending on which player three putted less and fortunately that was Sue. Two up at the turn and the match was never in doubt coasting to a 4/3 win. It might sound like I’m being a bit mean on Sue, but trying to stay up for a seven week  pennant season and bringing your A game out week in week out is tough going. When we chatted to the players and caddies after their matches, there was a fair chorus of “it wasn’t my best game but…” In this case, it wasn’t Sue’s finest round but she managed to find a way and three wins from her last three outings is a testament to how tough she is. 2 wins in and two more needed.

Erica Kreymborg went out next and she did what she’s been doing all season and shot the lights out. 2 birdies and one over the card when the match finished early for another thumping 5/4 win. That made it 5 wins for the season most of which were done in emphatic style. Caddie Keith was suitably impressed, giving the thumbs up and letting everyone know that Erica had played exceptionally well. 3 wins in and one more needed.

Many had thought that Terri Farrell (OAM) had played her last game of pennant years ago but with players unavailable Terri stepped into the team with caddie Carol Barker in an attempt to turn back the clock and get that one last win for the club. Despite giving the best part of 80 metres away of the tee Terri hung in there all day but finally succumbed in the 16th. It was a huge effort by Terri taking on the number 2 and her performance showed why she she has been such a great pennant player over so many years.

Heading out at number 1 was Jan Kreymborg. Her caddie Peter Killen noticed that Jan’s opponent had a Vic State Team head cover on her driver and he entered discussion with the player regarding her prowess. Fair to say she was a gun and yes she was a state team player. That didn’t stop Jan jumping out to a one up lead after 3 holes but soon the weight of greens in regulation took their toll and despite playing near her best, Jan succumbed to what can be only described as a better golfer. Great effort all the same Jan

Now back to the 17th green and all those spectators. 3 wins in and 3 losses and any hope of us losing and still not being relegated has disappeared after Keysborough and taken care of Kew. If Hayley can hold her nerve we’re a chance but she was facing an incredibly difficult chip.

Two practice strokes and then she addressed the ball. The high flop shot easily cleared the first bunker and if she and Andrew had put a 5 cent piece on the perfect spot to land she would have hit it. The ball checked and broke towards the hole and finished less than a foot from the pin. It was too much for her opponent and the girls celebrated a fantastic and well deserved win. It should be noted it was Hayley’s 6th win for the season too. Brilliant effort.

Thanks to all the supporters who helped lift the team over the line today. We missed Ann Watson who unfortunately couldn’t make the last game of the season but the other cheer squad members made all the difference.

Well done to all the players and caddies who represented the club throughout the season, you all did the club proud and we totally deserved to stay in division two. 

Bring on 2020.

Phelan Poorly

Friday Women’s Pennant Rd 6

Report by Joanne Drysdale 

Friday Women’s Pennant Report

Round 7

SV vs Latrobe @ Riversdale

The team came head to head with the no.1 team in the final round and after a great debut season in Division 3 and coming close to qualifying for the Finals we finished the last match with a loss to Latrobe. The team played beautifully all season with some terrific wins and several close 4/3 matches that could have gone either way. The good news is that we retain our position in Division 3 and will be back to do it all again next year!

Unfortunately, the old adage “Beware the sick golfer” did not eventuate for Heather Cadwallader on Friday. After starting quite well, she was unable to produce the form of the previous weeks. It was a battle for most of the day golf-wise and cough wise, and Heather went down 5/4. A tough end to the season for our veteran no.7 after some great wins in previous rounds.

Although nervous in her second pennant outing, this time at No. 6, Linda Wilson started extremely well before her opposition responded with a birdie at the third hole. It was a tight tussle throughout the first nine with Linda hitting a great shot into the par 3, 14th and then making a fine par on the 18th hole (her ninth hole for the day) to turn all square.  After 14 holes Linda had fought extremely hard to gain a 2up lead, however, her experienced opponent was not to be denied and fought it right out to the end, with some good luck and good management winning the last three holes to snatch victory. Well done to Linda in her debut season, valuable experience was gained, and she is keen for next season already!

From hole one Jody Doran and caddy Duncan Talbot knew the challenge was on.  Jody was suffering the start of a dreaded winter head cold, but sickness was not going to stop her determination to get another win for the team.  After hole 1 we definitely knew we had the advantage off the tee and through the fairway.  The challenge was going to be 100m in where the oppositions game was superb, and everything was at the pin.  With some quick planning we decided to up club, be aggressive and go at every pin.  Planning worked and at the turn Jody was one up and with some smashing drives, fairway shots and great putts sealed the match at the 16th.  

Carol Angland’s brand new Titleist ball found the water on the tenth (our first hole) which was indeed most unfortunate given that her opponent was busily fighting her way through the trees. The first hole was best forgotten! Not to be outdone Carol won the next and thus a see saw match ensued with the players taking it in turns to win holes.  However, by the 17th (our 8th hole) Carol was three down due to a lovely birdie and two beautiful long putts by her opponent. Happily, Carol won the next and was only two down at the turn. She then won four of the next seven holes, to bring the score back to all square. They halved the 8th and Carol went on to win on the 9th (18th) to seal a 1up win. Carol’s consistency, determination and steady play won the day.

Julie Sheldrake’s day began with a loss on the challenging 10th hole and her opponent’s confidence grew to be 2 up by the 13th. However, Julie steadied and put her opponent under some pressure when she won the tricky par 3 14th. From there Julie traded holes to be only one down by the turn. The players squared the uphill par 3 1st hole, then Julie won the 2nd to square the match. However, a total miss hit on the par 3 3rd resulted in a conceded hole. Julie’s confidence was fading as the La Trobe supporters were gathering in large numbers around the remaining holes. On the 7th she hit a ball OOB and she did not recover to lose the match 3 and 2.

Marg playing at no. 2 got off to a slow start and was 2 down after 3 holes. Her opponent was playing very steady golf with excellent putting. Her opponent’s ‘skill’ included the ability, on the 15th over the water, to skim her ball off the water onto the fairway! At the turn Marg was 2 down. She fought back to be square on the 3rd but lost the next 2 holes. Not discouraged in any way she took the next 2 holes and so with 2 holes to play it was all square once again. Marg just had to sink a very sinkable putt (and her putting had been superb) to be 1 up with 1 to play but instead Latrobe walked away from the hole 1 up with one to play. ‘No Nerves Marg’ hit a beautiful approach shot onto the 18th green and went on to win the hole.  So off down the 19th they went. A well positioned drive and a confident chip onto the super-fast green led to Marg winning a well fought match with a great putt. It was a pleasure to watch.

Jan Kreymborg knew she was in for a tough day in her match at Riversdale – playing at number 1 against ladder leaders Latrobe, having a new caddy on her bag (Peter Killen), on a course she’d never played before, and starting on as tough an opening hole as there is in Melbourne – the 10th at Riversdale.  Shortish par 4, but bunkers all across the fairway at around the 160m mark, and a 2nd shot to a small green surrounded by water on 3 sides!  But Jan was equal to the task, laying up short of the pots and putting her wedge on to the green to go 1 up.  The greens were especially quick all day, and it took Jan a few holes to get her range – 3 putting the 2nd to give her opponent a half, the 3rd hole to lose it and the 4th to again give a half.  After settling down Jan played out the rest of the first 9 to turn all square. The 2nd nine seemed to be going the same way, with Jan still square after 12 holes.  But Jan’s been experiencing a bit of hip soreness/stiffness and by this stage in the game, the anti inflams had unfortunately worn off.  After a brave fight Jan eventually lost 4 & 2.

Great effort team! A big thank you to all the players and caddies for a great season.

Until next year………………

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