Bonnar Cup and Women’s A3 start their seasons with convincing wins, while our Simpson Cup halves their match and a defeat to the Vines for the Junior Division 2 in the first week of the 2024 Pennant Season. View the reports from our Team Managers by scrolling down or clicking the team below.
Simpson Cup
Round 1 at Mt Osmond
Glenelg 3.5 halved with Mt Osmond 3.5
We took a new look team into the first round of the new pennant season. Not playing this year are Jack Buchanan (pro ranks) and Matt Uebergang (football). Kade Bryant and Jack Tanner (returned from US college) were not available as they were in Queensland representing SA in the Interstate Teams Series. Coming into the team were 15 yo Jack Leonard making his Simpson Cup debut, Josh Hayes and Will Starkey. Jack recently represented SA in the Junior Interstate Series where he performed well and has also had solid results in the Australian Junior and SA Amateur Classic events. Josh has returned to golf after taking last season off and Will is the reigning club champion who went through last year’s Bonnar Cup season undefeated.
No. 1 Will Starkey lost to Nathan Ramsey 5/4
No. 2 Zac Bray lost to Ken Chan 2 down
No. 3 Josh Hayes lost to Dan Searle 4/3
No. 4 Michael Munn def Nicholas Hill 6/4
No. 5 Mick Phillips halved with Matthew Hodgson
No. 6. Jack Leonard def Ben Walters 2/1
No. 7 Nick Wake def Andrew Edwards 4/3
Mt Osmond won the A2 pennant last year to gain promotion to the Simpson Cup. It’s always a challenge taking on a team on their home course and so it proved to be on this occasion. Veteran Nick Wake was first on course and he got off to a good start to be 2 up after 3 holes. He was still 2 up though 10 but was able to push the margin out to 4 holes after the 14th with a half on 15 closing out a good win.
Next up was Jack Leonard who started his Simpson Cup career with an easy birdie only for his opponent to chip in and grab an unlikely half on the first. However by the 8th he was 2 down with his work cut out for him on the back nine. Showing maturity beyond his years, he got back to square after 11. A par on 15 and birdie on 16 saw him take a 2 hole lead followed by a half on 17 which gave him a great come from behind win.
Jumping to the later matches, evergreen Michael Munn flew out of the blocks to be 6 up through 8 and was untroubled going on to an easy win. Will Starkey and Josh Hayes struggled to get into their matches and although they were both close early, their opponents gradually pulled away.
So at this stage we held a slender 3-2 lead with 2 matches left on course. Mick Phillips was off to a good start to be 3 up after 8 holes with the match seemingly under control. However by the 15th his opponent got it back to square. Mick holed a good putt on the par 3 16th to get back to 1 up. 17 was halved leaving the result hinging on the par 5 last. His opponent hit two good shots to reach the green in two. Mick was short of the green in 3 and was unable to get up and down for par and conceded the birdie putt to square the match. It meant that we had secured at least the 3.5 points need to square the team result.
In the final match on course Zac Bray had a battle on his hands all day. He was 3 down through 10 and 2 down after 16. He managed to win 17 to go down the last just 1 down. He needed to win the last to halve his match but at least we were in with a chance to grab an unlikely team win. However it was not to be with his opponent winning the hole after Zac encountered some trouble in the rough.
At the end of the day it wasn’t the result we were hoping for but a half is better than a loss! Thanks to the caddies Sam Wake, Justin Howard, Glenn Sterrey, Adam Bryant, Jason Bray and David Welling. Thanks also to our dedicated supporters too numerous to mention without leaving someone out! There are no matches next weekend due to Mother’s Day and the following week we will take on The Vines at Tea Tree Gully.
Steve Weeks
Co-manager.
Bonnar Cup
The Bonnar team travelled South to Thaxted Park on Sunday to commence the 2024 season with a replay of the 2023 final against a competitive The Vines team. In perfect golfing weather and, having completed a full pre-season, all players were raring to go on the tough Thaxted Park layout including tricky greens set up with championship pins.
Anthony Wang set out at number 7 and was immediately in a hard fought contest that went the distance with Anthony returning a great win 1 up on the 18th.
This was to be the theme of the day with Matt Jacquier at 6 also returning a great 1 up victory on the 18th and Harry Edwards, at 5, winning 17 & 18 to square his match and give the team a valuable 1/2.
The reliable Ben Winton came ahead late for a well earned 3&2 win for the no. 4 match.
Then, making his much anticipated come back at no. 3, David Brand overcame some early challenges to complete a 2&1 win and bring us to 41/2 points that ensured the team victory.
Max Jericho fought hard all day eventually losing 3&2 in a great match at no.2.
Finally, we welcomed Harry Burner playing in the no.1 match and grinding out a 2&1 victory.
It was a great way for the team to back up from last years Pennant and we all look forward to the season ahead.
Next Sunday is a break for Mother’s Day and the following Sunday we are back at it when we take on Kooyonga at The Vines at 11:15 in what should be another great challenge for the group.
Thanks as always to caddies, Alex Manton, Keith Barnard, Leanne Edwards and James Bridgen and our other loyal supporters for their help.
Medical Report
Thankfully, no serious injuries to report from the match. However a shock did go around the back 9 when Ben Winton split a finger nail while teeing a ball into some hard ground late in his match. He soldiered on and after some post match treatment is expected to make a full recovery and be available in a fortnight.
Andrew Hodge & Tony Martin
Team Managers
Junior Division 2
As the Pennant season kicks off our first match for Div 2 juniors was played at the Vines golf club against the Vines with the home ground advantage.
The greens had been cored the week before mixed with dry and fast fairways made for tough conditions.
It was a tough start for the team with four of the five matches being down by two after four holes.
Our captain for the day, Cooper Lessue, led the charge getting back to square by the nineth and eventually winning his match 3&1.
Adele Wang was our number two. She battled hard with some lovely shots throughout the day but with a couple of lost balls and a tough draw playing off 16 for the day unfortunately went down 4&3.
Levi Ashton played in the number three spot and fought hard, but with his opponent having a good day out paring most holes with some lovely short game shots, it was too much for him and eventually went down 6&5.
Gareth Thien played in the number four spot and also fought hard with some great chips and putts but in the end went down 6&5 as well.
Jayden McGrath played in the number five spot and what an effort. He was even through seven holes but found himself four down with five to play and managed to win four of the remaining holes and half the 18th for a squared match.
Holly O’Connell was our reserve for the day and both reserves played together and although this does not count towards our total on the day it was another awesome effort with Holly winning her match.
Unfortunately we lost our first match 3.5 to 1.5 but there are plenty more rounds to go. All the kids played with great heart and showed some fantastic sportsmanship.
Regards,
Jason Stone
Div 2 Junior Manager
Women’s A3
The first round of the 2024 season kicked off on Monday, May 6. The round was hosted by Mt Osmond on a stunning sunny morning. Our opponents were Highercombe who were new to the A3 division so a bit of an unknown quantity.
Overall, the team put in a great performance winning the match 4-1. We had a late out with Fiona Eblen coming down with illness, but she was ably replaced by our reserve Wendy Vaughan.
Wendy teed off first as our number 5 player and was embroiled in a tight match which went all the way to the 18th hole. Wendy played strongly to close out the final holes and take the match 2 Up.
Jill McDonald made her debut on the A3 team and got off to a flying start to be 3 up after 3 holes. It was steady golf to follow, and Jill prevailed to win her match 5/3.
Sue Raggatt played at number 3 and continued with her recent good form to impressively win her match 6/5.
Jo Ricourt played at number 2 and had a tough day out against a strong opponent and some unlucky lies to lose her match 4/3.
Jo Rawson played at number 1 against a strong long hitting opponent. The match was evenly poised through the front nine and right through to the 14th hole and Jo was then able to turn on the pressure to clinch the match 3/2.
A big thank you to our caddies for the round – Juliet Culley, Jill Gehling, Wendy Featherston, Michelle McCormack and Louise Pike. Their guidance and support were invaluable.
A promising start to the season and we look forward to carrying this momentum into our next round.
Anna Standish
Team Manager
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