On 21st February 2023

McMillan Shield Report 20/2/2023

McMillan Shield was held at Kooyonga on Sunday. The weather was perfect and the course was as immaculate as it was challenging.

We played Royal Adelaide in an extremely tough match eventually losing 4&1.

Indie Danger played at number one against Sam Garricke, having to give away 13 shots. Indie played well but the deficit was too much with Indie going down 6&4.

Jayneil Rudrapaggan played at two. He was quite unwell but still insisted on playing. As the saying goes “beware the sick golfer” – Jay managed a 3&2 win over Liam Hutchinson despite having to give him 11 shots.

Mitch Munn was up against it playing Ji Sung Park. The handicaps were similar but Ji Sung was a very large hitter (his drive on the 13th was around 280 metres!). Mitch fought back valiantly from a long way down to finally succumb on the 18th hole, and lose 1 down.

Riley Trimmer played Lucas Huang and despite a late charge after being 5 down he lost 3&2. Lucas’s consistency and excellent putting proved too good on the day.

Gareth Thien played at number 5 against Alston Ma. Both boys were up against it with long tee carries on the unrelenting course. They both battled hard with Alston winning 8&6.

I asked the boys 3 questions after the round;

  1. What was your highlight shot of the day?
  2. What did you learn about golf today?
  3. What did your opponent do really well?

Their answers are below and provide some brilliant insight from such young golfers.

Indie

  1. My drive on the 4th hole because it was a tight draw and went over 270m.
  2. I learnt how to control my emotions on the course a bit better.
  3. He putted very well today.

Jayneil

  1. My 10m putt on the first that I holed for par.
  2. If you have a bad shot or hole, you can bounce back and hit a better shot.
  3. My opponent was very consistent with his driver.

Mitch

  1. My tee shot into the par 3 7th and the following massive downhill putt.
  2. If you get upset at golf it makes it harder.
  3. He was an incredible driver of the ball.

Riley

  1. My 4-iron approach shot on the 17th water hole.
  2. Golf is hard!!!! You can’t control what your opponent does, only what you do.
  3. He was a brilliant putter and very consistent.

Gareth

  1. My 10m putt that I holed on the 13th.
  2. Keep on trying!
  3. He hit the ball a long way and had a good short game.

Despite the loss the boys once again were extremely supportive of each other. They all learnt a lot from the experience and are keen to come back fighting next week.

Great job boys – we are very proud of you.