On 14th May 2013

Bonnar Cup start 2013 campaign with solid win

Report by Wayne Humphries
(Team Manager)

Glenelg’s Bonnar Cup side has started strongly with victory over defending champions, Tea Tree Gully, at Glenelg on Sunday.

A great result for the team – the players responded really well to the challenge of taking on the current Bonnar Cup champions. Playing at Glenelg was an obvious advantage, but it did add some pressure to such a vital match – one that we simply had to win to put us in a competitive situation to seriously challenge for the Bonnar Cup this year.

All players had to endure mainly cold, blustery conditions with the sun coming out for periods to warm them up a little. Even in the conditions some great golf was played with a good spread of eagles, birdies and pars on show.

From very early on, Glenelg took a decisive advantage and throughout the day we always looked like having a comfortable victory – well done to all boys for maintaining the pressure throughout the day. The two games that we did not win both finished on the 18th green with one game (James Brown) losing to a 40 foot putt holed from off the green and the other match (Matt Mudford) resulting in a half after the Tea Tree Gully player holed a ten footer leaving Matt to calmly hole his three footer for the half.

Congratulations and special mention to three boys making their Glenelg Golf Club senior pennant debut:

  1. Dave Hiern at No 1 – winning 2 up. David hit the ball solidly all day to be in front early and then to make a magnificent birdie up the last in the worst of the weather (cold, howling wind and strong rain) to make sure of his game. He also holed his second shot on the 4th for eagle. His opponent played well to stay in the game but David maintained his composure and played par golf to win.
  2. Lee Cole at No 5 – winning 3/2. Lee hit the ball solidly all day, but a couple of special shots at crucial times to set up birdie chances and win the hole were his approach shots to 9 and 15 to challenging pin spots.
  3. Will Starkey at No 6 – winning 7/6. Will’s debut could not have been more impressive – from the first tee where he almost drove the green through to the 12th hole he played some wonderful shots, a couple of his up and downs had to be seen to be believed (well done to the coaching staff) and his composure around the course was exceptional. 

Other winners were Luke Bashford at No 3 – winning 4/3 and Michael Ratajewski at No 7 – winning 5/4. Both these boys started well, winning holes with birdies and pars, to set up an early advantage and then just kept on playing strongly to register solid wins – it was a great return to the team for them both.

Matt Mudford at No 2 had a tough game against a seasoned Simpson Cup player in Stuart Kopania – Matt held a slight lead for most of the game but his opponent refused to go away with some really nice up and downs under pressure – a half for both players was probably a fair result – and the half keeps Matt’s unbeaten record for Glenelg intact!

James Brown at No 4 had a tight see-saw contest. He drove the ball strongly (as usual) but on the greens he putted without luck – so many nice putts that looked in, yet found a way not to drop – then his opponent holes that 40 footer on the last to win – very frustrating for James!

Thank you to all caddies, friends and family for their support to the players through some (at times) very difficult conditions.

Thanks and well done also to the Club, the course staff, the bar and catering staff, and the Pro Shop for presenting the course in such great condition and for making all visiting teams feel so very welcome.

The challenge continues!…………..next Sunday we play Grange at The Vines from 12.10pm. This will be our most difficult match through the season proper and a win next Sunday will really set us up to be a major contender for the Bonnar Cup this year.

Results

Glenelg (5.5) defeated Tea Tree Gully (1.5)

(1) David Hiern def. Guy Dawson 2up
(2) Mat Mudford & Stuart Kopania squared
(3) Luke Bashford def. Jacin Cook 4/3
(4) James Brown lost to Wayne Everett 1 down
(5) Lee Cole def. Norm Cordina 3/2
(6) Will Starkey def. Ian Alexander 7/6
(7) Michael Ratajewski def. Mark Doan 5/4

To view full results of Bonnar Cup round 1, click here.

Galleries

Glenelg Golf Club’s Google + Online Photo Album

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