A cool and overcast day greeted players as the 2017 season of Golf Victoria Pennant continued on Sunday 2 April with contests being played across all 15 Divisions of the Men’s, Women’s and Colts competitions.
Shots of the day went to Huntingdale’s Lisa Teo and Rory Wood from Rosanna who both holed-in-one during their respective matches. Playing in Division 1 of Women’s Pennant at Victoria, Teo fired her ace on the 7th hole while Wood scored his hole-in-one at Kingston Heath’s 19th hole during Division 2 of Men’s Pennant. Congratulations are extended to both players.
In contrast and disappointingly, three players were disqualified for practicing on the course before their rounds commenced in accordance with 2017 Pennant Condition 4.6 (i). All players and team managers are strongly encouraged to note the conditions of the competition in addition to the Rules of Golf. 2017 Pennant Conditions can be accessed here.
As the 2017 season approaches the halfway point, clear favourites have emerged in all Divisions with further pivotal contests this weekend prior to the break for Easter. A summary of Sunday’s proceedings is as follows:-
Men’s Pennant Wrap
A total of nine clubs remain undefeated after the opening three weeks of Men’s Pennant across the six Divisions.
In Division 1, Victoria Golf Club head the ladder after a solid five match to two victory over Sanctuary Lakes, including wins by No.7 player Leonard Chin at the 19th and a final hole victory by spearhead Konrad Ciupek. Hosts Commonwealth suffered a home course loss to The National with the victors dominating through the lower order via wins to Andrew Villinger, Clay Nichols and Tom Limon. Metropolitan moved up into second spot on the ladder after accounting for Royal Melbourne six-one with reigning Men’s Australian Amateur Champion, Matias Sanchez the only winner for RM. The remaining contest saw Latrobe register its first win of the season with a six match to one victory over Peninsula-Kingswood.
Kingston Heath’s domination of Division 2 continued with a third straight win, this time by defeating Yarra Yarra by six matches to one. The ladder leaders have won 19 of the 21 individual matches contested so far in the 2017 season. Woodlands moved up into second place after a comprehensive six-one win over The Heritage while Rosanna and Southern both registered their second victories from three contests. Rosanna withstood Rossdale by four matches to three and Southern accounted for Keysborough five-two.
Heidelberg and Huntingdale maintained their impressive unbeaten records at the top of the Division 3 ladder. Heidelberg retained top spot after winning all seven matches over Goonawarra while Huntingdale defeated Kew by six matches to one. Gisborne stayed in touch with the runaway leaders after a close four match to three victory against Cheltenham with No. 2 player Michael Freake’s final hole win proving the difference in a contest where four of the seven matches were decided on the 18th hole or beyond. The final contest saw Kooringal register its first win of the 2017 season with a five-two result over Northern.
Similarly in Division 4, Eastwood and Churchill-Waverley remain undefeated with the former retaining top position after a five-two win over Spring Valley. Churchill-Waverley meanwhile registered its third consecutive four-three victory, this time against Chirnside Park with No. 1 Alex Zhu’s two and one win over Chirnside’s Rhys Granger deciding the contest. Eynesbury stayed in touch with its second contest win with a five-two result against Sandhurst while Cranbourne broke through for its maiden 2017 win with a four-three victory over Yering Meadows. Sudden death wins by Peter Carlon and Andrew Meier were pivotal in Cranbourne’s final result.
Division 5 was hosted by Berwick-Montuna as Riversdale maintained its unbeaten run, this time defeating Settlers Run by six matches to one. Medway held on to second position with a narrow four-three result over Green Acres while Patterson River stayed in touch by defeating the hosts by the same margin. Final hole wins by Peter Kane and Jason Driscoll proved invaluable in keeping Patterson River in touch with two contest wins from the three played to date. Bacchus Marsh scored its first win of the season with a four-three result over Eastern, where all four of its top of the order players were successful.
Division 6 travelled to Sunshine where the hosts celebrated with a seven match to nil clean sweep of the visiting Yarrambat. Box Hill also remain unbeaten following a five match to two victory over Melbourne Airport while Melton Valley stayed in touch with a six-one win over Amstel. The leading four teams after the five home and away rounds will progress to the semi-final stage.
Women’s Pennant Wrap
Just four clubs are undefeated in Women’s Pennant after the opening three rounds of the 2017 season.
Defending Champions Victoria Golf Club has enjoyed the perfect start to the Division 1 season with three straight victories to open their 2017 campaign. Hosting Sunday’s third round of contests, Victoria defeated Yarra Yarra five-two to sit one contest ahead of both Heidelberg and Commonwealth. Heidelberg have been impressive so far in 2017 and recorded a solid six-one victory over Peninsula-Kingswood to move into second position on the ladder
Meanwhile Commonwealth bounced back from last week’s loss to Victoria with a close four-three win against Southern. In the remaining contest, 2015 Women’s Division 1 Champions, Huntingdale scored the club’s first win of the season with a five match to two victory over Metropolitan.
Royal Melbourne is the only club undefeated in Division 2 after the strong and previously undefeated Kingston Heath line-up went down four-three to Kew in Sunday’s round of contests played at Woodlands. In an enthralling contest where five of the seven matches went to the 18th hole, Kew won four of them to take the honours. A two-up win to Kew No. 1 Linley Ooi against fellow Victorian Women’s State Team member Olivia Kline was enough to seal the result and see Kew join the mix as one of four clubs with two wins from three contests.
Royal Melbourne maintained its perfect start with a six-one win over the host club while The National moved into second spot on the ladder after achieving the same scoreline against Rosanna. Sandhurst stayed in the race for a finals berth after a narrow four-three win over Riversdale where a final hole win by No. 3 Ashleigh Broughill was the difference.
Patterson River hosted Division 3 which saw Keysborough hold onto its unblemished record with a four-three win over Box Hill with No. 2 Kate Schwarz winning the deciding match on the 18th over Box Hill’s Louise Dawborn. Spring Valley moved into second position after a similarly close four-three victory over The Heritage while Green Acres won the club’s second contest for the year with a five-two result over Settlers Run.
Gisborne lead the charge for the Division 4 Women’s final recording the club’s third contest win with a five-two result against Kooringal in Sunday’s round at Eastern. After falling to Gisborne in the opening round of the season, Latrobe remain close behind on two contest wins and 14 individual matches after a Round 3 five-two victory against Rossdale.
Northern opened its account for the 2017 season with a four-thee win against Medway while the hosts Eastern had a bye but return on Sunday with its own unbeaten start to defend.
Colts Pennant Wrap
The number of undefeated clubs in Colts fell to seven as the under-24 competition heads towards Round 4 this Sunday.
Division 1 saw ladder leaders Commonwealth held to a squared contest with Victoria while the previously unbeaten Woodlands lost to Rosanna three-two. A final hole win by No. 3 Thomas King over Woodlands’ Tom Catoggio being the decider.
In a very tight competition, Royal Melbourne moved into third place on the ladder after a four-one win over Peninsula-Kingswood and Metropolitan re-entered calculations after a five-nil clean sweep of Yarra Yarra. With just one contest separating all eight clubs, this week’s round will be vital.
The National and Kingston Heath remain unbeaten in Division 2 and are clearly the teams to beat as the halfway mark looms. The National defeated Medway four-one while Kingston Heath won all five matches in accounting for Southern in Sunday’s round played at the classic Sandbelt venue. Huntingdale stayed in third position after a four-one win over Heidelberg with Latrobe breaking through for its first season win with a four-one result against Churchill-Waverley.
Riversdale is the only undefeated team in Division 3 after a close three-two win over Sanctuary Lakes. As with countless Pennant results, the contest came down to a final hole victory to Riversdale’s Blair Mason over Sanctuary Lakes No. 2, Zac El Kurdi. Previously undefeated Sunshine also went down for the first time by three and a half matches to one and a half to Northern. Other results saw Sandhurst win three-two over Box Hill while The Heritage kept its finals chances alive with a three-two victory over Cranbourne.
Division 4 was played at Yering Meadows with Kew continuing to lead the way after defeating Rossdale four-one. Keysborough had the bye and are also unbeaten with Cheltenham moving into third spot after a three and a half to one and a half win against Spring Valley. Eastwood stayed in contention for finals with a close three-two victory over Kooringal with final hole wins by Toby Crouch and Lachlan Watson proving the difference.
The nine-club Division 5 visited Berwick-Montuna for Round 3 where Whittlesea maintained its great start to the season with a five-nil win over previously unbeaten Melbourne Airport. Eastern is also unbeaten so far in 2017 after a three-two victory against Bacchus Marsh while Settlers Run stayed in the mix with a three and a half to one and a half win over the hosts. Patterson River also broke through for its first win with a three-two result against Goonawarra.
The 2017 GV Pennant Season continues for all Divisions on Sunday 9 April at the following venues:
|
Men’s & Colts Pennant |
|
|
Division |
Host Venue |
|
1 |
Royal Melbourne |
|
2 |
Rossdale |
|
3 |
Cheltenham (Men’s) & Northern (Colts) |
|
4 |
Eastwood |
|
5 |
Settlers Run |
|
6 |
Box Hill |
|
Women’s Pennant |
|
|
Division |
Host Venue |
|
1 |
Metropolitan |
|
2 |
Kew |
|
3 |
Spring Valley |
|
4 |
Churchill-Waverley (Churchill Park site) |