Pymble Golf Club have broken a 14 year representative drought after taking out the final of the 2016 Eric Apperly Shield at Liverpool Golf Club today.
The team from the Northern Suburbs club had little trouble dealing with an under strength team from the Australian Golf Club, winning five matches to one in front of an appreciative crowd of spectators.
Pymble’s James Conran and team-mate Reid Brown dominated their opponents, recording 6&5 and 5&4 wins respectively to ensure Pymble got the wins it required to take the Shield. The Corey Jones/Thomas Heaton and Joseph Trinder/Isaac Noh matches ended in halves after it was clear Pymble had grabbed the winning points.
Conran was happy with his win and the result, his biggest to date. “Before this all I had won was the Duntryleague Club Championship, so it feels pretty good. I kept it in play toda. I was up the whole match, I didn’t lose a hole," he said.
Pymble began the quest for the 2016 Shield with a perfect five from five win record in the round robin stage. They took care of their northern neighbours, Monash CC in the quarter final four matches to two, then got the better of the ACT/Monaro in a dramatic semi when Corey Jones won his match on the 25th hole after a nail biting week-long delay due to bad light.
The win was particularly special for Bruce Robinson, Pymble’s team manager. He was part of the club’s Apperly Shield winning side in 1968, and was thrilled for the players. “They’ve been a really good band of brothers. There’s a terrific team spirit amongst them. They’ve been determined all year. It’s been fabulous to watch."
“These guys will become the genesis of a major Pennant side. We got pretty close last year, and it encouraged them to push on. With the major pennant coming on this will give them a good kick along,” he said.
Pymble's Captain Harry Waddington was proud of the achievement of his team mates. “I’m extremely proud, they’re a good bunch of blokes,” he said. “It feels awesome to go out with a big win. It’s my last year. I was undefeated all season too which was really nice.”
Waddington sees a bright future for Pymble’s Major Pennant chances in the next few years. “We will be quite a young side but a big win like this will definitely help us. There’s enough talent to compete in Major Pennant for sure,” he laughed.
Robinson was also delighted to see the number of club members who had made the trek to support the team in the final.
“You can tell by the number of people that are here to support, it’s a big thing for us. It’s a long time since we won something this big. We made the final of the major pennant seven or eight years ago but didn’t win, so there’s a lot of enthusiasm for this result.” he said.