98 players, including 25 interstate competitors competed in this year’s Yarra Yarra ‘Ray Barned’ Senior Amateur. Yarra Yarra is the curtain raiser for a cluster of five senior events that will be contested over the revered Melbourne Sandbelt in the coming week.
The tournament was named after Ray Barned who is a past club champion, life member, and a former VGA councillor.
The par 72 layout has hosted an array of national championships and was once home to the Women’s Australian Open from 1995 to 2002.
The players were presented with challenging scoring conditions as they faced early showers and wind gusts of almost 70km/h on the tree lined layout. Although difficult, the course was presented in fantastic condition.
As many of the field struggled, it was Ian Frost from Bendigo who posted a stellar round of 74 to narrowly defeat Yarra Yarra’s Colin Goon by two strokes and claim the 8th annual Ray Barned trophy. This was Frost’s first Senior event since turning 55 in early July.
The handicap honors was taken out by Eastern member Neil Barry with an impressive 71 nett off a handicap of 17. George Kotaridis of Kew tallied 72 nett to place seconded.
Players will move to Kingston Heath tomorrow where sunny skies and calmer conditions are predicted.
Click here for the final results