Pennants Update – Women’s Season Finale & Men’s Round 1
Published on 13th June 2023 in Club, Guests News, Members NewsWomen’s Pennants
Division 4 women have taken a stranglehold on the pennant competition with one round to go. Needing a good win in Monday’s match against Lake Karrinyup at Lakelands, the team finished the day strongly up 6-1. Convincing wins to Gail Bergen (4&2), Donna Parsons (6&4), Vanetha Lam (8&6) and Kanya Ritchie (7&6) were backed up by close wins to Gaye Green (2&1) and Glenda Roberts (2&1). The result leaves RFGC on top of the table with 8 points and a game to play. Nearest rival Lake Karrinyup is on 7 points but hosting the final game. A dominant win/loss record is now likely to carry RFGC to the pennant at Lake Karrinyup on Monday. Division 4 is scheduled to play Lake Karrinyup against Lakelands at 8:45am.
Division 5 women finished a solid season on 29 May at Seaview in third place. In a last minute twist, results earlier in the day meant the pennant winner was decided in the final match of the season between RFGC and Cottesloe. RFGC battled hard but went down to Cottesloe 5-2 with good wins to Pauline Harrison (2 up) and Tammy Tai (6&5).
Men’s Pennants
Division 1
In really the tough conditions at Joondalup Country Club we saw a solid win for the talented Lake Karrinyup Country Club team but the win was on the line right up to the final hole, when Team Captain; Connor won the 17th to square the ledger and take it to the wire. Unfortunately for Connor, his opponent blasted out of a fairway bunker to half a metre and holed for birdie to win the match 1 up. Connor had trailed all day and his comeback, including an eagle and a couple of magnificent putts had all the traits of a typical fighting Freo effort. Overall, Karrinyup had the edge.
Alex Maxwell playing in his debut match for Royal Fremantle struggled for the first few holes, conceding a start but slogged back into the game to push seasoned veteran Simon Liddell to finally concede a 3/1 loss.
Scott Baker probably had the most interesting match with the lead changing on a regular basis. He found himself a couple up early, only to concede a couple and turned a couple down. Unfortunately Scottie gave a few away and later recovered to square his match before finally being over run. It was Scottie’s debut Div 1 match and we’re so pleased to have him on the team.
Andrei Ezergailis continued to play the consistent golf he is renowned for, he was three up after three and never conceded a hole. His young opponent struggled around the greens but Andrei only missed one and snuffed out any potential challenge. He closed out his match 6/5 and cemented his place at number three.
Rocco Cucchiara had a tough match with Travis Temm who was hot from the outset. He was quickly a couple down when he mistakenly called penalty on himself to slip to four down after he had gained some significant momentum. His composure when all was going against him was excellent. We’re sure he will easily come back from this.
The third of our debutants to Div One; Mandeep Singh, started to sizzle after a three putt start to lose the first and quickly found the pace of Div 1 as well as the pace of the greens. He played a seasoned veteran and led for most of the day. After posting an eagle and four birdies, he closed out his match 2 up on the eighteenth.
The match of the day was a giant tussle between Zach Capelli and LKCC’s Joe Owen. The match seesawed all afternoon with both players scrapping for that advantage, Both players were under par playing the eighteenth. There was never more than a hole or two in it all afternoon and Joe finally had managed to win the last to square the match; for the first halved match of the season. This year, extra holes will not be played. This is a bit unfortunate, however on this occasion it didn’t affect the overall outcome and we conceded a result to Karrinyup.
Next week we play arch rivals Royal Perth at Cottesloe at 12:20 pm. We look forward to a change in fortunes against newly promoted RPGC. Hope to see some RFGC support.
Wayne Murray,
Division 1 Manager
Division 4
Division Four ventured to Gosnells Golf Club on a cool and windy Sunday morning to take on the home team.
First up was captain Brett Roberts. Wristy had hit some beautiful shots on the range followed by some crisp chips and some solid practice putts. Alas, the opponent was sound asleep at home thinking it was a 11:30am start. Wristy’s first ever walkover win.
So first to actually tee off was Andrew Langdon, making his Div 4 debut, taking on the first of 3 juniors in the Gosnells team. Andrew just kept it simple whilst his opponent was exploring different parts of the course. Jumped to a 4up lead after 6 holes and kept his foot down to take the 8/6 win.
Next up was Darren Goss taking on the 2nd junior. Darren is steady as it comes and despite some dodgy putting early, had worked his way to a 3up leave after 9. The fight back started on the 10th and it was back to square after 14. A lovely up n down on 15 and Darren was 1up. A long par putt by his opening kept it at 1up after 16. After saying earlier he hasn’t missed a fairway since 1986, it was a shock to see him on the 18th fairway but playing the 17th – a cracking 3rd shot lead to a 2 putt bogey and a 1up lead down the last. A timely 3 putt on the 18th by his opponent presented Darren with a 1up win.
Next at number 4 was Stephen Dark in his Div 4 debut up against the last of the juniors. Charlie Knoll arrived just in time to provide his caddying services – a great effort all considered from the night/morning before. Although Stephen’s putter wasn’t always his friend, it came in very useful at the end – awesome up n down with putter on the 16th to reduce his deficit to 1 down and then an amazing birdie on the 17th from about 3 metres off the green to bring it back to square. His opponent was heading to the water in 18 however it plugged over the red line and he was able to make a nice up n down. Stephen held his nerve and made a great 2 putt down the hill to left the match all square.
And the last of the Division 4 debutants in Kloden Brown went off at number 3. After a couple hiccups, Kloden got his game rolling and moved to 2up after 8. An interesting tee shot on the 9th, where he just cleared the water, did not faze Kloden who was still able to win the hole and take momentum into the back 9. Kloden kept it steady and was able to a 5/3 win.
At number 2 was Alan Becker up against his fellow senior amateur tour sparring partner in Don McLean. Boris was hitting greens but as the old saying goes, he was on the dance floor but a long way from the band. Alas the putter was not always doing the right thing and he was in a ding dong battle. A couple of wayward drives on the back nine lead to a 3/2 loss.
Last off, at number 1 was Pat “The Thrilla” Sevilla. The only player who got anywhere near the first green with driver. Pat and his opponent played a bit of “you miss a green so I’ll hit it in the same spot” but Pat was able to knuckle down and his class came to the fore and he took home a 2/1 win.
Royal Fremantle takes the win 5.5/1.5 in a great start to the season.
Next week we travel to Hartfield to take in Rockingham at 12:20pm
Brett Roberts,
Division 4 Captain
Division 5
Division 5 kicked off its title defence with a home fixture against Gosnells on a very windy afternoon. For our opening round of the season we welcomed in Chris Davenport for his Pennant debut for Royal Fremantle. We were up against it from the start, losing the toss and giving up 25 shots across the board, a win today was going to be hard fought.
Our 2022 MVP, Michael Ruggiero, led the team off at number 7, keen to continue on his 8 game winning streak from last year. A pounding drive up the middle of the first set the tone for the match. A lot of steady golf from both players saw it get to 17 before Ruggers sealed the deal 2&1 and overcoming the 3 shot deficit.
At number 6, Dan Waters was quick to match Ruggers efforts splitting the middle of the first fairway. However, having to give 4 shots Dan had his back to the wall early and was a couple down. Every time I crossed paths with Dan it was 1 or 2 down. The next time I saw an he was 1 down heading down the last. A huge drive up 18 saw Dan in the box seat. A 6 iron followed by a lovely wedge the scared the hole saw him in for 4 and a win on the hole to halve his match. A great fighting effort to stay in the match.
The debutant, Chris Davenport, went off at 5 also giving 4 shots to the opposing captain. Chris was shaky early with the duck hooks off the tee and his opponent staying steady. With a gallery following him, straightened up off the tee to take the match deep into the back 9 before eventually falling short 2&1 on debut. A great effort!
The man in red hot form, fresh off back to back Saturday comp wins, Mark Merlino was next. For a man in this form, a 4 shot deficit would be a breeze. As Mark always does, played his own game and didn’t get carried away hitting fairways and greens early. A very uncharacteristic display of putting lead to two 4 putts on the front 9. However, classy as always, Mark rallied to close the match out on 15 for a strong 4&3 win.
I slotted into the number 3 spot giving up 4 shots as well. A classic double cross pull draw saw me in great position in the middle of high street off the 1st.. good start. Standing on the second tee my opponent humorously said “some more of that would be nice” was enough to kick me into gear winning 6 of the next 8 holes to turn 5 up. A birdie on 10, chip in birdie on 11 for my mate saw the deficit close slightly before getting to 16 dormie 3 up. A solid drive left me 8iron in and an easy 2 putt to close out the match 4&2. At this point the match was in our favour 3.5 / 1.5.
At number 2 was the veteran of the team Dave Pollock. Also giving up 3 shots Dave was rattled early getting to 3 down through 4. A clinical wedge to gimme range on 6 saw Dave slowly start the fight back. It was a good thing the wedge was a gimme because Dave’s putter quickly turned ice cold and not a single putt was dropping. Some errant golf down the back 9 saw the margin too big to overcome before eventually falling on 15 for a 4&3 loss.
At number 1 we welcomed a pennants stalwart in Pat Kearney off a juicy handicap of 5! Pat was also giving 3 shots but was confident that the home track would negate the deficit. Some wayward golf from both players including skulled and chunky chips was the highlight of the front 9. The team eventually caught up with Pat on 16 with a 2 up lead and both players hitting their seconds from near the tee tree on 18. Some smart golf saw pat fight his way to a bogey to win the hole and the match 3&2.
Overall a great effort from the team first up to secure a 4.5 / 2.5 win at home. Next week we head to Bunbury to take on Kwinana. Well done to the other grades in trying conditions! Let’s keep the streak alive in div 5!
Marcus Cronan,
Division 5 Captain
Division 6
Cold and blustery conditions greeted us at RFGC for round one of Division 6. Our team consisted of experienced match players and we were confident of a strong showing at our home course against Gosnells Golf Club. Last year Gosnells fielded a team at the limit of the handicap allowance and this year was the same. Thirty-four shots given meant our home advantage was under pressure.
Mike Ingram led us of with a lovely shot down the middle of the first. Giving away two strokes, he held his opponent of to bring in our first win,1up. Elijah Turriff-Smith followed at number six, giving five stroke away. Despite not having played as much as he wanted recently, he put up a great fight before falling 1 down.
Kane Litterick joined us again from the junior ranks. Giving away seven strokes, he had an up and down battle all match. Two up at one point, he eventually fell 1 down. Sam Bromwich was a Div 6 veteran from last year. Also giving away seven strokes, he fought hard all day. At one point he was five down, but fought back magnificently, ultimately going 2 down. It was
Deja vu for me the Captain, starting to fall ill in round one as I did last year. No excuses, Panadol onwards. I was giving four shots this week. I played well all day, but choked on the 17th hole, going back to square, where we finished on the 18th. Expecting dad, Ryan Hudson stepped up at number two, giving away 4 shots. With his Dad on the bag, they make a solid team, and he didn’t disappoint with a great 2up victory.
Our number one this week was Peter Pusmucans. Giving away five shots, Pete had to overcome his dislike of early morning winters and stand around in the howling wind when he could “still have been in bed” quote, unquote. He hung in there despite not having a great day on the greens, eventually falling 3/2. We went down 2.5-4.5 in a disappointing first round loss, not the start we were looking for. However, three of our matches went to the wire against big shot deficits.
The boys fought hard and next week we move on to play Hartfield Golf Club at 12:20pm at Secret Harbour Golf Club.
Stewart Jarvis,
Division 6 Captain