Bonnar Cup side go down in tough round 4 assignment

Report by Wayne Humphries
(Team Manager)

A tough assignment – Kooyonga at Kooyonga.  On a day of missed opportunities, it was a case of “oh so close, yet…..not to be!”

The actual result for Glenelg was 1 win, 3 halved and 3 lost (with 2 lost at the18th).

After nine holes, five of the games were square – just a close tussle all day. In the end it was a valiant effort by the Glenelg boys, but the home course advantage on the greens gave the final result to Kooyonga. They simply putted better all day and two of their players holed crucial putts of ten feet and 20 feet on the last green, which if missed, would have at least given us a tied match result.

This result is a slight setback to our Final aspirations – the challenge is now there to win our remaining three matches – these are all very winnable matches if the boys maintain their work ethic and confidence.

Our one winner was Will Starkey at number five. He was square or one up for most of the day – it was good for him to have a tight game after three big wins in the first three rounds – Will stood up to the extra pressure really well, making a nice up and down on 17 to win his match 2/1. That is now four wins from four for Will – good stuff Will.

The three halved games were:

• Michael Ratajewski at No.7 – all square after nine, Rat got to two up after 15 with some nice approach shots in to the greens, but then lost 16 to birdie and 17 to be all square playing the last. After great drives from both players Rat hit his second to six feet, while his Kooyonga opponent left his approach shot some 20 feet short of the hole, but then proceeded to hole it to leave Rat needing to hole his for the tied result – and for the 3rd week in a row Rat holed a clutch putt. Hole halved in birdies – great golf from both boys.
• Lee Cole at No.4 – Lee three putted from four feet to a tricky pin spot on nine to go one down. He hit a lot of nice shots on the back nine but had no luck on the greens – still one down after 14, he got back to square playing 18. His approach shot to 18 settled eight feet from the hole, while his opponent hit his second shot from the fairway bunker over the back of the green. With a back pin, this left a very tricky chip shot, which was played really well but the ball still trickled some ten feet past the hole – and again the Kooyonga player holed it leaving Lee to hole his for the game – unfortunately for Lee the putt took too much borrow and settled just below the hole for another tied game.
• Matt Mudford at No.3 – Matt’s opponent (Brad Spaven) had recorded three big wins over the first 3 rounds and looked set for another big win – three birdies in the first four holes saw him three up after five against Matty – but Matty dug deep to win six, seven and nine to be all square. Matt lost 15 to go one down, but then a miracle birdie on 16 got him back to all square. I won’t mention his shank into the water to lose 17, but Matt recovered from that to win the 18th with par and to finish all square after a titanic struggle all day.

James Brown at number six was one up after five but another game back to square after nine. However his opponent played too consistently over the back nine and James was two down after 14 and then back to one down playing the last but his approach shot from a fairway bunker flew well over the green leaving a difficult chip shot – which James managed to get to the back edge of the green – but when his opponent almost holed his birdie putt attempt, James conceded the hole to lose two down.

Our number one, David Hiern, was another match all square after nine. However, David was left to rue two missed short putts from four feet on the 14th and 17th. On both occasions, his putts hit the hole only to horseshoe out – to make matters worse on both these holes his opponent holed longer putts (five and seven footers). So still one down playing the last, David conceded the hole after his opponent hit his approach shot next to the hole with David struggling after an errant drive left in the trees and sand.

And then there was Luke Bashford – probably the less we mention the better, but Luke’s opponent (Nick Duetrom) played superbly, being some four or five under the card when their game finished at the 11th hole. One of those days for Luke and he will bounce back.

Thanks again to all caddies for their support to the players.

The challenge continues!…………..we are now back in the pack in 4th spot. However our last three games are against teams below us, while the top three teams still have to play each other.  It is now critical we win the last three matches and record big wins. The Bonnar Cup table is very tight – I suspect the final two spots could well be determined by games and holes won. The boys now have a week off for the long weekend – our next match is against Royal Adelaide on 16th June from the 10th tee at Tea Tree Gully.

Results

Glenelg (2.5) lost to Kooyonga (4.5)

(1) David Hiern lost to Jason Cocks 2 down
(2) Luke Bashford lost to Nick Deutrom 9/7
(3) Matt Mudford & Brad Spaven halved
(4) Lee Cole & Michael Ledgard halved
(5) Will Starkey def. Stephen Duval 2/1
(6) James Brown lost to Michael Duval 2 down
(7) Michael Ratajewski & Sam Inglis halved

Bonnar Cup Table

To view full results for Bonnar Cup round 4, click here.