Near perfect conditions greeted the 108 senior golfers at the final round of today’s first event of the 2016 Victorian Senior Order of Merit calendar, the Sorrento Senior Amateur. Players enjoyed fantastic golfing weather for both rounds one & two, with good scoring the order of the event.
The Sorrento Senior Amateur also incorporates the Victorian club team’s championship in both gross & nett categories, where teams of three players from a nominated club have their respective scores combined each day as an aggregate score. The team with the lowest two round aggregate total scores over 36 holes is determined the winners.
In the club team’s championship nett event, the team representing Royal Melbourne GC consisting of Steve Lilley, Peter Vial & Neil Collier finished runner-up with an aggregate nett score of 445 from daily handicaps of 11, 16 & 17 respectively. The club team’s nett top prize was taken home by the team representing Rossdale GC which included Tony Hyde (6), Kerry Boehm (8) & Brian Gray (13) who returned a nett aggregate score of 440 to take the nett teams title by 5 strokes.
In the club team’s gross event, defending champions Kew came up just shy of back to back wins finishing in second place with a two round gross aggregate total of 478. The team made up of Cliff Mitchell, Alex Cairncross & Gordon Claney produced some fine golf over the two rounds ensuring the Victorian club team’s championship trophy is now headed to Kingston Heath for the next twelve months after the trio recorded a two round aggregate total of 467 to take the club teams title by 11 strokes.
In the individual nett event, Belvoir Park’s Denis Cooper finished second with a nett score of 139 from a daily handicap of 12 taking second place via way of countback. The Sorrento Senior Amateur handicap title went to Green Acres' Rodney Andersen who finished with a superb 66 nett on the final round from a daily handicap of 7 giving Andersen a one shot win with a two round nett total of 138.
In the gross championship, Kew’s Mark Brasher finished second on 149 c/b after consistent rounds of 74 & 75 respectively. Ultimately, this year’s Sorrento Senior Amateur belonged to 2014 Doug Bachli Champion Gordon Claney, who produced a brilliant final round of four under par 66 to finish with a two round total of 139 cruising to a ten shot win. Claney has now set the early benchmark for round of the year within the 2016 Senior Order of Merit calendar with today’s superb final round.
Golf Victoria would like to extend sincere thanks to Sorrento GC for once again staging a fantastic event this year. This event concludes the Victorian Senior Order of Merit events for 2015. With the first event of 2016 The Keysborough Senior Amateur to take place Monday January 11.
To view full results, club teams results & photo gallery, click here