Friday Women’s Secures Win and Div Promotion
Published on 25th May 2018 in Guests News
Well done to our Friday Women’s Pennant Team, securing the win in Golf VIC Friday Women’s Division 4 grand final defeating Ranfurlie 6-1 at Woodlands Golf Club on Friday, 11 May. Congratulations to everyone involved in the team across the year! The team is now promoted to Division 3 for next year.
Please see Team Report Below.
Wow, what a season!
We started off with a nice 5/2 win over Ranfurlie in week 1, so we were off and running. Week 2 saw us take a bit of a pounding from the very strong Box Hill team. We then met Cheltenham, who just quietly we thought we would beat, it could have gone either way on the day, but Cheltenham won 4/3. Maybe this was the wakeup call we needed, because we followed this up the next week by knocking off the unbeaten top team Sandhurst 7/0. We had gone from the middle of the pack to the top of the ladder. But pennant is a week by week, game by game proposition so we could not sit on our laurels. The team were really focused and continued their winning streak taking rounds 5 and 6 with strong 5/2 wins and then the nail bitingly close round 7 against Patterson River where we won 4/3 on the 20th hole. Phew! We made it to the finals.
So, in cold, windy and rainy conditions the team headed off to Woodlands last week to take on Ranfurlie in the Final. We beat them the first time we played which gave us some confidence, but we knew we could not be complacent. The team started strongly and brought home a very convincing 6/1 victory to be the winners of the 2018 Pennant. As Lesley Meadowcroft put it so eloquently “pennant is about winning the hole and it appears we did that best!”.
Heather Cadwallader was pitted against the undefeated Ranfurlie no. 7 but this didn’t faze her, Heather took this on as a personal challenge and she was determined to win. Heather took control of the match from the outset and played the best pennant golf she has ever played. She was 4 up after 5 holes and never looked back bringing in a fabulous 5/4 win.
Jan Pitcher played some beautiful golf. Her chip onto the 5th from the bracken behind the green was a magical shot and let her opponent know just who was in charge of the match. Jan was really focused and continued strongly for the rest of the match finishing with a convincing 3/2 win.
Lyn Treloar was nicely ahead for much of the day and it was looking like we could bank win number 3 but then she gave us a bit of a fright when she dropped a few holes on the back nine, but she quickly regained her lead to finish with a lovely 3/2 win.
Julie Sheldrake drew the short straw this week. Ranfurlie were obviously looking for a bankable win and in a sneaky manoeuvre brought their no. 3 player down to play no. 4. Julie was down early in the match but in true Julie style she fought back taking the match right to the 18th. Great effort Julie to finish only 1 down.
Marg Willcox was very focused bringing all her years of pennant experience to the fore. A formidable opponent who doesn’t give up she was in touch all day and when her opposition had to chip out of the trees on the 16th Marg in true style answered with a beautiful shot straight onto the green. She went on to win the match 3/1.
Pam Wheelens was well ahead early in the match and it was looking like this was a ‘win’ we could count on. She did give us a fright when she dropped a few holes on the back nine but she quickly bounced back. She finished the match off when she pulled out her 3 wood on the par 4 16th and promptly landed her ball 3 metres from the pin. Her opponent could not compete with that had to concede, giving Pam a convincing 3/2 win. This was Pam’s last match before surgery that will sideline her for 6 months. We all wish her well for her procedure and recovery.
Lesley Meadowcroft had a real battle on her hands, the match was very tight all day, and could have gone either way, as she and her opponent jockeyed for the lead. That was until Lesley hit her stride on the back nine and raced away with the match finishing brilliantly 4/3.
We had a team of 10 players this year so unfortunately not everyone could play in the Final but the contributions from Carol Angland, Katie Pang, Shirley Munro and Patty Carlson throughout the season need to be acknowledged as they also enabled us to achieve what we did this season. Thank you, ladies.
The caddies are an integral part of the team so a very big thank you goes to all of them who came every week, rain, hail and shine to support and encourage the players.
A big thank you also to the spectators who came to give us some much-appreciated support throughout the season.
Well done team, what a great effort by everyone to bring home the first Friday Pennant flag to Spring Valley in many years.
Until next year,
Joanne Drysdale