Rick Butler, SVGA Captain John Newberry and Ian Baker at The Coast

The association boasts more than 1,000 members and each year organises over 40 events in the greater Sydney area.

Members can play most of the best courses Sydney has to offer and usually at very attractive discounted rates.

The other big positive is that you are playing with fellow club golfers aged 55 years and over in a very social environment devoid of any elitism.

ASG visited with the Sydney Vets at their recent event at the spectacularly located The Coast Golf Club at Little Bay in the city’s eastern suburbs.

It was a very blustery morning but the Vets turned out to be a very friendly bunch who didn’t let the difficult golfing conditions get in the way of having a great time.

The Coast course sits right atop the cliffs on Sydney’s rugged southern coastline and a strong gusting wind blowing straight off the ocean certainly made things interesting.

But so too was the company. We played in a foursome with the SVGA Captain John Newberry, from Cumberland Golf Club, Ian Baker of Palm Beach GC, and Rick Butler, a member of the adjoining St. Michaels Golf Club.

On the other side of St Michaels is one of Australia’s acknowledged best courses, the NSW Golf Club. All three of these coast hugging courses feature in the Sydney Vets annual schedule, along with the likes of Mona Vale, Riverside Oaks, Concord, Cumberland, Avondale, Long Reef, Oatlands, Ashlar, Lynwood, Kooinda Waters, Twin Creeks, Killara, Bonnie Doon, Rosnay and a heap of other great venues, over 40 in all.

Perhaps the only top courses missing from the schedule are The Lakes, which is no longer a very veteran friendly layout, The Australian Golf Club and Royal Sydney, which haven’t really come to the friendly green fees party.

The others are very happy to have the usually full 144 starter fields of well behaved, course conscious older golfers.

The Sydney Veteran Golfers Association was established in 1986, one of the first official veteran golfing organisation in the country.

It is affiliated with the NSW Veteran Golfers Association, meaning members also have access to the 50 odd Weeks of Golf conducted across the state and to other national and interstate veteran golf events.

Membership is open to affiliated club members who hold a Golf Australia handicap and are aged over 55. It costs just $30 a year with a one off $30 joining fee.

John Newberry has been the Captain for 16 years and is proud of what the association has achieved and of the continuing service it offers members.

Members range across the handicap spectrum and come from all walks of life, from doctors and lawyers to labourers and factory workers.

“It is a terrific group of blokes and we do go away for two country trips each year as well,” John said.

Members mostly come from across the Sydney region but there are a few who commute from areas like Wollongong, Moss Vale and the central coast.

There are also some continuing members who have moved further afield, one to Singapore and one to India, but as John says: “We don’t tend to see them very often.”

No doubt those international members don’t want to cut their ties to an organisation that over the years has developed some true and lasting bonds and friendships.

New members are always welcome and for details of how to join and other information go to the Sydney Veteran Golfers Association website here.

GREG NORMAN

Norman was recruited to the tournament – now refreshed and rebranded as the Humana Challenge – by long-time friend and golf tragic Bill Clinton.

The Humana Challenge has a 144 player professional field that in 2012 will include the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Hoffman and Bill Haas but also blends a celebrity element.

Celebrities involved include Clinton, who will partner with Norman, musicians Smokey Robinson, Alice Cooper and Michael Bolton and actors Morgan Freeman, Don Cheadle and Craig T. Nelson.

Other Australians in the professional ranks include Stuart Appleby, John Senden, Gavin Coles, Steve Elkington, Mathew Goggin, Nick O’Hern, Rod Pampling and Greg Chalmers

Norman hasn’t played in a tour event in the States since the 2009 US Masters.

The 56 year old is obviously feeling pretty fit and is also committed to playing the PGA Tour’s Mayakoba Golf Classic in February and the Senior British Open in July.

“The good news is I feel good playing the game of golf again,” Norman said. “When you start turning and hitting the ball solid again – and long again – it makes me feel pretty good.”

The 2012 Human Challenge will be played at the La Quinta Country Club and has a US$5.6 million prize purse with US$1.008 million going to the winner.

The first three rounds of the four-day tournament will be played in a pro-am format, with each pro-am team consisting of one professional and one amateur and each group consisting of two professionals and two amateurs.

2012 Humana Challenge Australian TV Times

The event is being telecast live in Australian on Fox Sports.

Round 1, Friday 7 – 10am; Round 2, Saturday 7 – 10am; Round 3 Sunday 8 – 11am; Final Round Monday 8 – 11am.

2012 Human Challenge Live Leaderboard

2012 Humana Challenge Live Leaderboard

EVERGREEN

Aaron Townsend, Ashley Hall and Nick Cullen took the top three spots after a day of brutal conditions – and a playoff – at the Australasia International Final Qualifying (IFQ) at Kingston Heath Golf Club today.

Melbourne ran true to form and really turned on some unseasonally cold weather with wind gusts over 90km and lightning storms forcing players off the course for over two hours before Townsend eventually finished atop the leaderboard with a 4-under-par 140 for the two rounds.

“It was such a grind out there today it was so hard to hit the right club any kind of distance so it was just a guessing game,” the 30 year old said.

“Thankfully my short game was brilliant, I was able to hit the ball up and down a lot and just keep things going along in the right direction.

“It’s fantastic it’s going to finally sink in over tonight and tomorrow but I couldn’t be happier.”

Whilst Townsend was counting his blessings Senior, Hall and Cullen were forced into a playoff after they tied for second on 143.

Playing the par 5 seventh into a fierce south-westerly Senior misdirected his second shot and couldn’t match the birdies posted by his younger companions.

Hall, a former Victorian Open and Victorian PGA Champion, was happy to have finally qualified for The Open, to be played this year at Royal Lytham & St Annes in July.

“It’s amazing I have been thinking about this ever since they brought the IFQ out to Australia so I have had a few goes at this, at least five or six, so I am pretty pumped right now,” he said.

“This is exactly like the British Open is going to be, my short game is going to be important so I just have to stay pretty patient and I was patient today.”

For all three this will be their first trip to a Major Championship yet 27-year-old Cullen, the youngest of the trio isn’t intimidated by the prospect.

“I really haven’t had time to think about it too much, of course you always dream of playing majors when you are a kid and playing next to the best guys in the world and I am just looking forward to a chance to do that,” he said.

THE 2012 golf season is underway and for three lucky golfers over the next two days that will mean earning a coveted spot in the 2012 British Open.

Kingston Heath Golf Club is playing host this week to the R&A as it stages the 2012 International Final Qualifying (IFQ) for The Open Championship.

Played over the 10th and 11th January, the IFQ provides the opportunity for Australasia’s best golfers to play their way into the oldest Golf Championship in the world.

At the end of the 36 holes just the top three players in the 46 man field will be granted a place in the championship, this year to be played at Royal Lytham & St Annes from 15-22 July 2012.

The IFQ pits some of Australia’s more experienced players including Peter Senior, Craig Parry and Peter Lonard against some of the young guns including James Nitties, Matthew Griffin and Rohan Blizard.

Entering into IFQ on the back of his runner-up finish at the Victorian Open is New South Welshman Kurt Barnes.

Barnes experienced success at last year’s IFQ when he, Matt Millar and Rick Kulacz all qualified.

Live scores, tee times and other information are available on the British Open website here.

A MERRY Christmas and Happy New Year to all Australian Senior Golfer readers and to all those associated with the site over the year.

It has been a great year for Australian golf in general, highlighted by the Presidents Cup and Australian Open, and hopefully we have all had our own little golfing moments in 2011.

Mine certainly was having the opportunity to play the Royal Melbourne Presidents Cup final day layout the day after the big event concluded.

But no doubt there have also been many golfing frustrations along the way and all we can wish ourselves collectively is that we all continue to strive to improve at least our enjoyment of this great game.

The ASG site itself continues to grow and develop and we will be doing our best to accelerate that trend in the coming year.

Our thanks and best wishes to all those who have been part of the journey.

THE

Poulter had started the day two strokes behind hometown favourite Geoff Ogilvy but he dispatched the deficit on the very first hole with an eagle two.

The Englishman took the lead with a long birdie putt on the 7th and the anticipated duel between the two match play specialists largely fizzled from there.

Coming off his superb 8-under 64 on Saturday, Ogilvy was just slightly out of tune and though he continually showed the ability to save par when it really mattered he just couldn’t produce more.

When he finally did sink a long birdie putt on the 16th to momentarily inject some life into the contest, Poulter struck straight back immediately with a putter that had run hot all day to make his own birdie and maintain his four shot lead.

When Ogilvy seemingly decided to try and make it all up with one massive hit off the tee on the long par five 17th the shot went way right into water and the tournament was virtually over.

With the pressure off, Poulter allowed himself his first and only bogey of the day. Before that, he had been the only golfer in the 64 man field without one.

Poulter finished with a 4-under round of 67 to be three shots clear of Aussie Marcus Fraser, who overtook Ogilvy with a 64, the low round of the day.

With the help of his double bogey on the 17th, Ogilvy finished with a dispiriting 73 but still alone in third spot on 11-under.

The only player apart from Poulter and Fraser to shoot four sub-par rounds in the tournament was the ageless Peter Senior (70) who shared fourth place at seven under with Adam Crawford (66), while world No.1 Luke Donald eased to the line with a 72 to sit alongside 2011 Australian Open and PGA champion Greg Chalmers at four under.

Poulter probably didn’t really need another clothing item for his extensive wardrobe but he gleefully accepted the Masters gold jacket.

“It’s a nice end to the year, to be honest. It’s been a difficult year, but obviously now there’s a couple of special highlights to the year, this being the second one. To come down here at the end of the year to play as well as I have played and to be the Aussie Masters champion is very special,” he said.

“Today was a day for patience. You had to hit shot after shot. There was no getting away with bad shots today.”

“I didn’t really want to get in to a match play slugging match with Geoff; I just wanted to play golf. So I concentrated pretty hard on doing that and putting the ball in play and I guess putting Geoff under a little bit of pressure. For me to win this tournament at the end of the year in a Ryder Cup year puts world ranking points on the board for me, and that’s very important to do that.”

For Victorian Marcus Fraser the runner-up performance continued an incredible summer.

“My last two months of golf has been as good a golf I have played throughout my career. I think I have had about four top 10s and an 11th finish in the last couple of months. So to play like that is very rewarding,” Fraser said.

Ogilvy was disappointed but magnanimous in defeat.

“Ian played very well. I didn’t play very well. He had 4 under today, that’s a pretty good score out there in a pretty tough day. What are you going to do? I couldn’t really make a birdie all day,” he said.

If you’re not one of Poulter’s 1.2 million Twitter followers you probably missed what he communicated to his fans immediately after his round:

“Winner winner chicken dinner … what a way to end the year.”

Sorry if you already knew that.

Baker-Finch led wire to wire at the rain affected 54-hole event coming home six strokes ahead of his nearest rival.

The Australian golfer’s last professional win was at the 1993 Australian PGA championship at Concord in Sydney.

Now mostly a television golf commentator, Baker-Finch reached his golfing pinnacle when he won the 1991 British Open but then famously retired after an extended form slump.

It was an emotional win at the season ending PGA Legends Tour event at the Byron Bay Golf Club and one that has given him more confidence to compete again on the world stage.

Baker-Finch finished the tournament at 7-under, with Queensland’s Allan Cooper in second on 1-under and American Mark Sherman alone in third spot on even.

“When the presentation was taking place and I looked up and saw all those people – many of them familiar faces, friends I’d played with for 30 years – I was very emotional,” Baker-Finch said after his win.

He vowed not only to return to defend his title next year but will also play more US Champions Tour events in 2012 when his schedule with the CBS network allows.

“I don’t want to compete just to make up the numbers,” he said. “When I go out to play, I want to feel that I have a chance of winning. I played in one tournament (the Toshiba Classic) on the US Champions Tour early this season and played poorly. ‘

“I think my level of apprehension didn’t allow me to compete. Then I played in a big four-ball event (the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in April). My partner, Joe Ozaki, and I finished tied third – just one stroke from the winners.

“My apprehension level was a bit lower for that event and I played well. I enjoyed the competition and felt I could still compete.”

Baker-Finch is in Melbourne this week commentating on the 2011 JBWere Australian Masters and then will spend the rest of the year at his Mooloolaba home on the Queensland Sunshine Coast with his family before returning to the US.

“Next year I’ll commentate for CBS, play a few Champions Tour tournaments, then come back to commentate on the big Australian tournaments at the end of the year, play a few events and enjoy some rest on the Sunshine Coast,” he said. “It’s a great life. I’m living the dream.”

Chook wins European Senior Tour OOM

TWO years after a back injury threatened to end his career, Australia’s Peter “Chook” Fowler has won the 2011 European Senior Tour Order of Merit.

In a dramatic final day of the season ending MCB Tour Championship in Mauritius, the 52 year old held off the challenge of former Ryder Cup player Barry Lane to win the money title.

Fowler fought back from consecutive double bogeys on the fifth and sixth holes at Constance Belle Mare Plage to finish the tournament in seventh position, his 13th top ten of a remarkably consistent campaign.

That was enough for him to end the year as Senior Tour Number One and lift the John Jacobs Trophy ahead of Lane, who was two shots back in a share of ninth.

Fowler is the third Australian to win the prestigious John Jacobs Trophy, following Noel Ratcliffe in 2000 and Ian Stanley in 2001

His winning cheque of €14, 814 took his earnings for 2011 to €302,327, meaning he finished the tour’s 20th anniversary season €32,154 clear of runner up Lane.

“It was a great tussle with Barry who also had two wins this season,” Fowler said.

“Fortunately when he had those two wins I finished second and third so I managed to stay close enough. The more the year went on, the more exhausted I was.

“Then I suffered some back problems again in Portugal in October so I was battling through towards the end of the season and it was good to see the job through.”

After struggling for two years with a disc problem in his back which happened in practice before his Senior Tour debut, Fowler won twice in 2011, capturing his maiden Senior Tour title in the ISPS Handa Senior World Championship in June before coming from seven shots back on the final day to win the Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open in Switzerland the following month.

He was also runner up in the ISPS Handa Senior World Championship presented by Mission Hills China and the Casa Serena Open and tied second in the Van Lanschot Senior Open.

In total he finished inside the top ten in 13 of his 18 tour appearances in 2011, with nine of those inside the top five.

Fowler also won the 2011 Australian Senior PGA Championship in Sydney and will be back home this week contesting the JBWere Masters in Melbourne.

“I’ve played pretty solid and pretty consistent this year and been in there most weeks,” he said. “I still feel I have room for improvement though. There’s a lot of good players out here who I’m still learning from –Sam Torrance, Carl Mason and Ian Woosnam – they play so well and I have to pick the bits of their game and add them to mine.

“After the struggles that I’ve had over the years this really does mean a lot to me. It’s great to beat all of these great champions on the Senior Tour.”

Fowler played 519 events on The European Tour events  in a career spanning  25 years, winning once in the 1993 BMW International Open when he held off Major Champions Ian Woosnam and Bernhard Langer.  His best finish on the Order of Merit was 22nd in 1989, the year he also won the World Cup for Australia when he partnered Wayne Grady.

He joined the Senior Tour in 2009 and struggled initially with his back injury, finishing 76th on the Order of Merit that season after playing just four events. The injury sidelined him for 12 months but he returned to finish 29th last year and after a winter of hard gym work, Fowler returned stronger and began the season with a share of  fifth in the ISPS Handa Australian Senior Open before only finishing outside the top ten five times in 18 events.

“The Order of Merit is across a 21 tournament stretch so it shows a high level of consistency,” he said. “I have to admit when Barry won in Scotland in August and people started talking about the Order of Merit it became quite gruelling. I knew, though, that if I stayed on my game I’d have a chance.”

Lane, who was the first person to congratulate Fowler on his triumph, also won twice in 2011, successfully defending the Cleveland Golf/Srixon Scottish Senior Open in August before winning his third Senior Tour title the following month at the Casa Serena Open.

He recorded six top five finishes in total and nine top ten finishes, ending the year with earnings of €271,173

“I was a bit aggressive toward the end today but I gave it my best and it was a great season,” said Lane.  “It was great to be in contention for the John Jacobs Trophy. Peter has had a great year and he works so hard so it’s great for him to win the trophy. I really am pleased for him”

Scotland’s Andrew Oldcorn finished third in the Order of Merit on €188, 981 while Englishman Gary Wolstenholme moved past former Masters Champion Ian Woosnam into fourth position with earnings of €181,636.

Former Walker Cup Player Wolstenholme sealed the Rookie of the Year Award following nine top ten finishes in his first full season on the Senior Tour.

Tom Lehman victory

Former British Open Champion Tom Lehman sealed a wire-to-wire victory in the MCB Tour Championship after surviving a final round battle with David Frost.

The American carded a final round 71 for a 12 under par total of 204 to hold off South African Frost by a single stroke.

Lehman, who defeated Frost and Fred Couples in a play-off to win the 2010 US Senior PGA Championship, was making his debut in a regular European Senior Tour event and the victory was his fourth of 2011

Luke Donald wins the Race to Dubai European money title

LUKE DONALD has become the first ever golfer to capture both the American and European money titles in the same year.

The pundits had already given the 34 year old Englishman the accomplishment back in October when he had a dramatic come from behind win at the 2011 Disney Classic to take the US money title from the favourite Webb Simpson.

But then Rory McIlroy made a late season run on the European Tour to threaten Donald’s hold on the title on the other side of the Atlantic.

Donald went into the 2011 Dubai World Championship last Thursday knowing a win by the Northern Irishman and anything less than ninth by himself would lose him the historic double.

They teed off together as the last group in the first round with Donald uncharacteristically finding the trees in what was a precursor to a quite scratchy round.

Donald was rusty after five weeks away from the game for the birth of his second daughter and McIlroy, the current world No. 2, was looking ominous.

But as he has often demonstrated in recent times, Donald performs when really needed and his three consecutive birdies to finish his final round put an authoritative stamp on what has been a remarkable year.

“It’s something that I didn’t think was possible,” Donald said. “I played extremely solid, consistent golf all year winning four times and playing right at the right moments. I think it is testament to my hard work and it’s nice to see it paying off,” Donald said.

“I had so many mixed emotions but just tried to finish strong and three birdies was a nice way to finish the year.”

The actual Dubai tournament was won by Spain’s Alvaro Quiros who rolled in a huge eagle putt on the 18th green to beat Scotland’s Paul Lawrie by two strokes.

Quiros closed with a 5-under 67 to finish on 19-under while Lawrie (67) made a birdie on the last hole to finish alone in second a stroke ahead of Donald and his final round 6-under 66.

McIlroy, after his opening round 66, finished with three 71’s to be tied for 11th on 9-under.

Donald will be the star attraction at the 2011 JBWere Masters starting this Thursday at the Victorian Golf Club.

AUSTRALIAN

In a dramatic final day both Aussie golfers did their best to lose the event at the Clearwater Golf Club while in third spot New Zealander Josh Geary was desperate to end his country’s winning drought at their national championship.

After a great rookie year on the Japan Tour, journeyman Kennedy went into the tournament as the highest ranked player and was three strokes ahead as the final round began.

Kennedy got off to an unconvincing start and saw his lead diminish as an on-fire Parry scored four birdies in six holes.

“I got off to a shaky starts and I let a couple slip through in the early stages,” said Kennedy, who was chasing his second professional win.

“I saw that Craig had it to 9-under on 14 so, I had then became the chaser, and got more aggressive.”

The 37 year old looked dead and buried nearing the end of his round until Parry found water on his 18^th hole and ended up with a double bogey, forcing the playoff.

“The playoff was great, to play against someone like Craig and to win holing a putt for birdie was fantastic,” he said.

“To win a national open is right up there. To win a New Zealand Open, with all the names that are on the trophy, it’s one of the oldest opens is pretty special to me.”

Kiwi Geary was hugely disappointed in not ending the national drought with his final round 72 putting him at 6-under, just one stroke short of the playoff.

“I am definitely gutted,” he said. “What is done is done, you can cry for a few hours but it’s not going to change what happened.”

Australian Jake Higginbottom finished the event as the leading amateur and was awarded the Bledisloe Cup for his efforts.