It’s already been a big week for Deaf Golf Australia, but it got much bigger again today.
Just days after it was announced that the Gold Coast would host the 2022 World Deaf Golf Championship, the Australian men’s team is the new world champion.
The team, comprising Mark Aird, Luke Ellis, Jack Besley, Jack McLeod, Andy Honeysett and Dean Connell, was superb throughout four rounds at Carton House in Ireland, defeating runner-up the United States by a mammoth 17 after some ultra-consistent golf.
In fact, all six men were in the top 25 of the individual competition, proving the team’s depth and form.
Doubtless the leader, though, was McLeod, a member at Sydney’s Bonnie Doon Golf Club and former world champion, who was second outright at six over through four rounds, trailing only England’s Paul Waring at five under.
Besley, a member at Southern in Melbourne, was fifth overall at 17 over.
But the accolades didn’t stop there for the powerhouse Aussies near Dublin.
The women’s team, comprising Linda Marchesi, Chantell Greaves, Debbie Byrnes, Therese Pierce and Mariellen Coles, were also impressive in finishing runner-up to a strong German team by 26 strokes over four rounds, again toppling the US, this time into third.
Marchesi, of Trentham, north-west of Melbourne, was the pick of the individual bunch, finishing a superb fourth on her world championship debut, closing with her tournament-best 77 to charge up the leaderboard.
In the senior division, Craig Douglas, of Wallacia Panthers Golf Club west of Sydney, was fifth overall, in a really tightly contested race, while Geelong’s Barry Engelsman was 10th.
The senior team, also featuring Robert Bowler and Robert Fogarty, finished a creditable fourth in an event featuring a tight leaderboard and won by the US.
The team had a high-profile cheerleader all week with Australia’s Ambassador to Ireland, Richard Andrews, a proud onlooker.
“So proud of our latest world champions … great ambassadors for our country,” Andrews tweeted.
The 2020 edition of the biennial event will be staged in England, with Australian PGA Championship host Royal Pines to take the reins in 2022.