Encourage Shield and Junior Pennant State Finals
Tuesday 19th January
Encourage Shield 3rd vs 4th Playoff
Both teams had a hiccup start with one player each withdrawing, so there were only 5 matches played. Monash won the toss and typically sent NRDGA into bat first. Teeing off the 10th hole nearly into the sun proved testing for some and there were several provisional tee shots played. Only a few were found. After 9 holes Monash led in 2 matches, two were square and NRDGA was in front in one. Fairly close at this stage. On the back 9 the matches continued to be close, but Monash maintained their slight lead and held on to win 3½ to 2½.
Monash team – Jack Bowgett, Matthew Morley, Ryan Garay, Patrick Curley, Jaron Cohn-Hedges, Jake Thompson-Doolan. Managers – Arnold Gould and Barbara Phillips
NRDGA team – Jackson Magarry, Tom Partridge, Callen Stubbs, Reilly Wunderlich, Nicholas Sneesby, Nicholas Magarry. Manager – Anthony Magarry
Junior Pennant 3rd vs 4th Playoff
The Junior Pennant playoff between Dubbo and Port Macquarie was a great contest. Long hitting by the No.1 & 2 from both teams was a feature and it really came down to the short game to separate the contestants. With not many shots difference in the 3,4,and 5 matches they were also very close at the turn with Dubbo leading one, one square and Port leading in the other. The number 6’s were only 1 hole different as well with Dubbo just in front. Quite a close contest. On the back nine, Port closed the small gap and hit the lead with 3 matches to 2 with the number 1’s having to go to the 20th to decide the contest. Dubbo prevailed making it 3-3 so those same two No.1’s had to go back to the first for the “sudden death” playoff. They went neck and neck for 3 holes then a great birdie on the 4th playoff hole saw Dubbo win and earned third place in the State Junior Pennant.
Dubbo team – Jones Commerford, James Gleeson, Nick Coggan, Lachlan Jones, Noah Gooch, Jacob Conti. Manager – Jim McDonald.
Port Macquarie team – Jackson Jubelin, Tom Biron, Sam Hutchinson, Oli Payne, Tom James, Maddison Laws- Farrell. Manager – Nick Payne.
Encourage Shield State Final
This contest was fought out between Bega and The Vintage. With only four shots given in the first four matches, it was apparent that the player with the best “on the day” form should prevail. The 5 and 6 players from Bega had to give 8 and 9 shots respectively, so really had to play to their handicap to be competitive. After 9 holes, those two were playing well and had handy leads, while the top 4 pairs were 2 each way. Anyone’s title! Bega had the benefit of experience, having had to play 12 contests on their way to qualifying for this game and this proved the difference, as they powered away to win 5-1 over a gallant team from The Vintage. Congratulations Bega – job well done.
Bega team – Blake Dowling, Jack Roberts, Will Ubrihien, Cooper Jennings, Harry Peterson, James Moore. Manager – Wayne Ubrihien.
The Vintage team – Lachlan Howells, Angus McMahon, Patrick McMahon, Brad Barwick, Max Murphy, Olivia Leathley. Managers – Stephen Leathley and Keiran McMahon.
Junior Pennant State Final
Avondale and Kiama lined up for their chance to win this prestigious event at about 8:45am on Tuesday morning. Both teams had stayed at the same motel, along with all the other team’s players and parents and JNJG officials, and all had eaten at the buffet dinner the previous night. This proved to be a bit of a disaster for several parents and most of the Avondale team. After only 1 hole, one Avondale player had to be returned to the clubhouse with stomach cramps and a bad case of gastroenteritis. He managed to recover with a little time and some medication, and played on after a 30 minute delay. Three holes later, two more Avondale players were on the cart back to the clubhouse, and two more were feeling unwell. The Kiama team had no problems and simply had to wait for their opponents to return. Another complication arose as the Newcastle ladies competition players had caught up and had to wait as well. They understood the situation, but were understandably a little put out by the delays. After only 8 holes the situation had deteriorated to the point where the Avondale team manager and the JNJG official were discussing whether or not the match should continue. The problem being that the players felt able to play in between “episodes” and did not want to forfeit their match. As the agonising decision to forfeit was getting closer, the Kiama manager suggested that his team would be prepared to discuss abandoning the match and re-playing it at a future date. This gesture of sportsmanship was greatly appreciated by the Avondale manager, and so the JNJG official declared the contest abandoned and all players, managers and parents made their way back to the clubhouse. The State final of the Junior Pennant will now be played at a date and venue to be determined.
Once again, the very generous offer from Kiama Golf Club players and manager must be acknowledged.
Kiama Team – Darcy Bond, Jamie Reay, Jake Reay, Jet Preston, Ethan Harvey, Harrison Jones, Connor Hughes. Manager Shaun O’Toole
Avondale team – Will Bayliss, Jye Pickin, Bryce Pickin, Kara Williams, Gus McAllister, Jess Meakin, Ejun Choi, Grace Kim. Manager – Bob Wilson
Round One Report
Monday 18th January
Semi-Final day at Newcastle for the Encourage Shield and Junior Pennants teams. In the Junior Pennant, Avondale played Dubbo and Port Macquarie came up against Kiama. The Encourage Shield saw Monash clash with The Vintage and Bega take on the NRDGA Representative team. The weather was perfect and although the course had suffered a very wet week, it was 90% great with a bit of casual water in places.
As the games progressed it became evident that all four would be close and indeed there were 2 contests that were 3-3 after regulation play. This meant the number 1 player from each side had to play hole by hole sudden death to determine a winner. In the other contests, there were 3 matches that went down 19 to get a result. It was very tense for the players, managers and spectators but in the end the results were:-
Encourage Shield
- The Vintage defeated Monash at the 2nd Playoff Hole after the match was tied 3-3
- Bega defeated NRDGA 4-2
Junior Pennant
- Avondale defeated Dubbo 4-2
- Kiama defeated Port Macquarie at the 2nd Playoff Hole after the match was tied 3-3
