After weeks of indifferent Sunday Pennant weather, a perfect Autumn day with blue sky, mild temperatures and little wind greeted players across Melbourne as the sixth round of the 2018 GV Pennant season was completed on Sunday 22 April. The wild winds that have punctuated 2018 Pennant disappeared and in ideal conditions, teams went to work to seal final spots, set-up a last round charge or won contests to move away from the relegation zone.
In total, only eight teams now have the perfect record after six rounds across 15 divisions of GV Pennant (6 Men’s; 4 Women’s and 5 Colts) as follows:
Men’s Division 2 – Huntingdale
Men’s Division 4 – Sandhurst
Men’s Division 6 – Eastern
Women’s Division 4 – Rossdale
Colts Division 1 – Commonwealth
Colts Division 3 – Cranbourne
Colts Division 4 – Box Hill
Colts Division 5 – Green Acres
In almost all Divisions, the race for finals positions will come down to this Sunday’s final round. Round six proved pivotal with Men’s and Women’s highlights including:
– In Division 1 of Men’s Pennant, Kingston Heath lost its first contest for the season in going down four matches to three against The National while Metropolitan won its fifth contest with a four-three result over Southern to move into second place on the ladder. The 2016 Division 1 Champions now appear near certain to join their Sandbelt neighbour in the final;
– 2017 Champions Commonwealth has a guaranteed berth in the Division 1 Women’s final after a six match to one victory over The National. However, Huntingdale provided a glimmer of hope to chasing clubs after going down five-two to Kingston Heath. With four contest victories but with 22 individual match wins, Huntingdale must still defeat The National in Sunday’s final round at Commonwealth to make the final. A loss could pave the way for Kingston Heath, Heidelberg, Southern or The National to progress;
– The unbeaten Huntingdale went on its winning way in Division 2 Men’s Pennant with a four-three victory over Sanctuary Lakes. Rosanna are best placed to be Huntingdale’s opponents in the final but must defeat Sanctuary Lakes in the final round at Woodlands. A Rosanna loss would provide an opportunity for Yarra Yarra but only if they can inflict Huntingdale’s first defeat for 2018;
– Royal Melbourne lost its first contest for 2018 going down to hosts Spring Valley in round six of Division 2 Women’s Pennant. Yarra Yarra took full advantage and moved on top of the ladder with a five-two win against Green Acres. With five contest wines apiece and 31 and 29 respective individual match wins, Yarra Yarra and Royal Melbourne both have a guaranteed finals spot which will be played at Cranbourne on Sunday 20 May commencing at 9am;
– Churchill-Waverley and Eynesbury continue to head the Division 3 Men’s ladder after round six was played at Northern, having lost just one contest apiece. Only Northern with four contest wins can challenge for the final and will have that opportunity when they face Churchill-Waverley in the final round at Eynesbury. Given that just one individual match win separates the leading three clubs, Eynesbury will also be looking for a last round home win against Cheltenham to ensure a finals berth;
– Keysborough’s unbeaten run ended at the hands of Rosanna as round six was played at Box Hill. The four match to three loss saw Keysborough drop to second position on the ladder and needing to defeat Latrobe in this week’s final round at Gisborne to guarantee a finals spot. Still trailing by a contest win, Rosanna’s hopes will hinge on beating new ladder leaders, The Heritage in their own crucial last round contest. An intriguing last week awaits in Division 3 of Women’s Pennant;
– Unbeaten Sandhurst will have to wait until Sunday to see who they’ll meet in the Division 4 Men’s Pennant final as third placed Riversdale will play second placed Eastwood in the final round at Patterson River. The winner will get a finals position and promotion to Division 3 for 2019. Sandhurst sealed its finals berth with a five-two win over hosts Chirnside Park while nearest challenger Eastwood accounted for Kooringal by the same margin;
– Rossdale confirmed its finals berth in Division 4 Women’s Pennant thanks to a close four-three win over Kooringal in round six played at Medway. A 19th hole victory by No.3 Joy Adams over Kooringal’s Vera Lund proved the decider. Settlers Run are best placed to join Rossdale in the final after a five-two victory against Northern. Rossdale meets third placed Churchill-Waverley while Settlers Run plays Kooringal in Sunday’s final round at Eastern;
– Division 5 Men’s Pennant remains completely up in the air after Sunday’s sixth round was played at Berwick-Montuna. Cranbourne joined Medway and Green Acres on four contest wins following a four-three victory over Settlers Run. With Medway falling to Mt Derrimut, Cranbourne’s win sets up a virtual elimination final against Medway in next Sunday’s final round at Settlers Run. The winner gets to the final. Green Acres can do likewise when it plays Box Hill, although a clean sweep win to the latter could statistically catapult Box Hill ahead of their final round opponents. A win to Box Hill would open the finals door for Settlers Run who could reach the final with a big margin last day victory over Berwick-Montuna. An interesting final round lays ahead.
– Undefeated Eastern sealed its Division 6 Men’s final position with a five-two win over second placed Whittlesea. The latter will now have to defeat Melton Valley in this week’s final round at Eastern to earn a finals rematch. A slip up by Whittlesea could then open the door for Ranfurlie if it can manage to inflict Eastern’s first defeat for the season. Sunday’s final round at Eastern will also see Division 4 of Women’s Pennant played during the morning from 7.45am with Men’s Division 6 to commence from 11.30am, continuing Golf Victoria’s desire to concurrently stage men’s and women’s golf competitions.
In 2018, 31 clubs are participating in Women’s Pennant, 47 in Men’s Pennant, 38 in Colts Pennant and 32 in Friday Women’s Pennant, in arguably one of the strongest club team golf competitions in the world.
Given the scheduling of the Australian Men’s and Women’s Interstate Teams Matches in early May, the 2018 finals will be played on Sunday 6 May for teams not involving Victorian State players and Sunday 20 May for the Division 1 Men’s and Women’s finals and any other Division where a final would involve a team containing a Victorian State player.
The finals on May 6 will be played at The National (Long Island site), Kew and Eastwood while the 2018 Division 1 Pennant Finals on May 20 will be played at Cranbourne. While the Division 1 Men’s and Women’s Finals have already been scheduled, the remaining 1 finals will be allocated following the final round of contests on 29 April.
All pennant results will be available on the Golf Victoria website at www.golfvic.org.au/pennant following the conclusion of each round.
The final round of 2018 GV Pennant will be played next Sunday (29 April) at the following venues:
Men/Colts
Division 1 – Commonwealth
Division 2 – Woodlands
Division 3 – Eynesbury
Division 4 – Patterson River
Division 5 – Settlers Run
Division 6 – Eastern
Women
Division 1 – Kingston Heath
Division 2 – Royal Melbourne (East Course)
Division 3 – Gisborne
Division 4 – Eastern
Friday Women’s Pennant
Friday Women’s Pennant will see Round six contests played on Friday 27 April at the following venues:
Division 1 – Commonwealth
Division 2 – Green Acres
Division 3 – Eastern
Division 4 – Medway