Denis Dale rounds up the latest elite senior amateur golf action from around Australia
NATIONAL: Steve Toyne goes Wire-to-Wire in the NT Seniors
The current Australian Senior Ranking table has Victorian Greg Rhodes on top, a position he has held since November, 2015. Fellow Victorian Gordon Claney holds down second place ahead of Queensland’s number one senior Steve Toyne.
Victorian and Queensland golfers currently dominate the national ranking table.
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AUSTRALIAN |
SENIOR |
RANKING |
TABLE |
|
|
Name |
State |
Events |
Ave. Points |
|
1 |
Greg Rhodes |
Victoria |
7 |
130.93 |
|
2 |
Gordon Claney |
Victoria |
7 |
104.93 |
|
3 |
Steve Toyne |
Queensland |
8 |
94.67 |
|
4 |
Ian Frost |
Victoria |
10 |
90.93 |
|
5 |
Peter Hannah |
Queensland |
10 |
83.90 |
The Northern Territory Senior Amateur Championship
Queensland senior Steve Toyne closed with a solid round of 76 to comfortably win the 2016 Northern Territory Senior Open played at the Darwin Golf Club. Toyne is one of Australia’s top ranked senior golfers and this win was an improvement on his third place in this same championship when played at the Alice Springs Golf Club in 2015.
Toyne also had the special honour of recording a wire-to-wire victory in a 72-hole stroke event. His consistent rounds of 72-76-78-76 saw him win by 9 strokes from fellow Queenslander Peter Hannah with West Australian Mark Gatty another two strokes away in third place.
Local member Tom Harold was the leading NT player and he was awarded the Closed Championship trophy. Local player Keith Francis was the winner of the major handicap event.
Leading Scores
302 Steve Toyne QLD 72-76-78-76
311 Peter Hannah QLD 77-83-72-79
313 Mark Gatty WA 79-77-81-77
315 Lester Peterson NSW 79-80-79-77
316 Barry Tippett VIC 79-81-77-79, 236 Tom Harold NT 76-80-80-80
319 Neil Faulks TAS 80-83-78-78
322 Terry Small NSW 82-85-78
325 Trevor Osborne NT 79-86-78-82
The overall consensus was that the tournament was a wonderful experience that certainly made the trip to the “Top End” well worth it. Many have already indicated an intention to return in the future.
More information on the Australian Senior Ranking competition available on the AUSOOM website – www.ausoom.com.
NSW: Denis Dale Leads in the 2016 NSW Senior Order of Merit
As the year reaches its midpoint Twin Creeks senior Denis Dale holds a good lead in the 2016 NSW Senior Order of Merit competition. Dale is attempting to record his tenth victory in this season long competition. His current leading margin is likely to reduce as more golfers complete their “Best Fourteen” events the competition uses for calculating Order of Merit rankings.
Concord’s Ken Brewer is in second place with the very consistent senior recording eleven Top 10 places from his fourteen starts without managing a win. A victory is not far off for Brewer. Mona Vale’s Stefan Albinski is also very well positioned in third place with 1214 points from just 9 starts this year.
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NSW SENIOR |
ORDER OF MERIT |
|
|
|
Name |
Club |
Events |
Best 14 Events |
|
1 |
Denis Dale |
Twin Creeks |
16 |
1674 |
|
2 |
Ken Brewer |
Concord |
14 |
1306 |
|
3 |
Stefan Albinski |
Mona Vale |
9 |
1214 |
|
4 |
Graham Leake |
Links Shell Cove |
14 |
768 |
|
5 |
Michael Musgrave |
Toronto |
11 |
724 |
The Mona Vale Seniors
One of the best events on the NSW Senior Order of Merit Competition is the annual Mona Vale Seniors and this year the course was again presented in exceptional condition and with perhaps the best greens played on this year.
The 2016 champion was Chris Hicks from Eastlakes with a great round of two under par 70. Hicks has been a top class golfer for many years and although he only plays a few senior events he has lost little of his golfing talent. Tied with the second best rounds were local Mona Vale member Mark Pearson and Peter Good from The Lakes with scores of 73.
Bob Paton from Mona Vale was the overall handicap winner with a score of 70 from his handicap of 12.
The Manly Seniors
The Manly golf course was presented in beautiful condition for the 2016 Manly Seniors. The tees were a little forward but that was balanced with some demanding pin placements. Manly had been the venue for the very successful 2015 Australian Senior Amateur Championships but this time the course proved the winner over a talented field. Only five golfers managed a score under 80.
Local Manly member Philip Howard was a clear winner with the 5-handicapper using his local knowledge to great effect in recording a wonderful round of 74 on the testing layout. This gave him his first NSW Senior Order of Merit title and a four stroke winning margin over Long Reef senior Geoff Cranfield who continued his recent good form with a round of 78.
Third place was shared by three golfers on 79 – Michael Musgrave (Toronto), Sam Quagliata (Liverpool) and Ken Brewer (Concord).
More information on NSW Senior Order of Merit events here – www.golfnsw.org/
VICTORIA: Ian Frost on track for Back-to-Back Bachli’s
The defending champion Ian Frost is well on the way to a successful defence of the Doug Bachli Trophy awarded to the state’s leading senior golfer.
Frost defeated Alan Bullas and Gordon Claney in 2015 and holds a comfortable lead again with almost half the tournaments completed. Claney holds down second place with a group including Bullas not too far away.
Patterson River senior Brian Gray currently leads the Paul Lulofs Trophy for handicap results. Ken O’Brien sits in second place with Ignatius Duivenvoorden in third place.
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VICTORIAN |
SENIOR ORDER |
OF MERIT |
|
|
|
Name |
Club |
Events |
Best 12 Events |
|
1 |
Ian Frost |
Bendigo |
8 |
1602 |
|
2 |
Gordon Claney |
Kingston Heath |
6 |
1335 |
|
3 |
Ken O’Brien |
Rossdale |
9 |
1121 |
|
4 |
Alan Bullas |
Commonwealth |
10 |
1055 |
|
5 |
Mark Abeyaratne |
Peninsula |
8 |
1042 |
L-R: Majella O’Connor, Norman Wilson, Judith Quinn, Ken O’Brien
Leongatha Senior Amateur
Rossdale senior Ken O’Brien won the Leongatha Senior Amateur title on a countback after he fired a remarkable final round 73 in testing conditions full of strong wind gusts and rain showers. This gave him a 36-hole total of 151.
“I hit the ball well. I just hit a lot of greens. I also had a lot of 3 putts” mentioned O’Brien. Although he finished his round with three consecutive bogies his score was good enough to claim the title on a countback from Mark Abeyaratne (Peninsula-Kingswood) who also finished with a 36-hole total of 151 after rounds of 75-76.
Norman Wilson (Chirnside Park- Gardiners Run) took out the handicap event backing up his 67 nett first round with a nett 76 second round. A total of 143 gave Wilson a one shot victory over Ignatius Duivenvoorden (Yarram).
Judith Quinn (Mornington) won the women’s scratch Stableford event while Majella O’Connor (Ocean Grove) won the Stableford category.
Leongatha Golf Club was well received by the players. The course was in great condition highlighted by impressive fairways and true rolling greens.
Hepburn Springs Senior Amateur
Ian Frost has added the Hepburn Senior Amateur Champion to his elaborate golfing resume. Frost carded rounds of 72 and 67 for a total of 139, 3 shots clear of runner-up Sands Torquay member David Mallett.
A second round count-back was required to determine the men’s nett champion, with John Hoare of Pakenham and Kooringal’s Grant Arnold both tied on nett 132. Hoare’s blistering round of 4 under nett par 62 trumped Arnold’s 65 to win the trophy.
Helen Pascoe of Buninyong is proving to be the player to beat in the women’s scratch section this year, with yet another title win. Pascoe posted scratch scores of 31 and 30 points for a total of 61 points, 9 better than runner-up Heather Harley of Kooringal.
All the players were generous in giving thanks to the Hepburn Springs Golf Club, the committee members and the volunteers for their wonderful hospitality during the two day tournament.
Further information on the Victorian Senior Order of Merit is available on the Golf Victoria website www.golfvic.org.au .
QUEENSLAND: Peter Hannah on top in PresCare Senior Order of Merit
The 2015/2016 PresCare Queensland Senior Order of Merit (QSOOM) calendar is reaching its climax with only five events left to be held. And with the restructure to this year’s calendar, the winners won’t be decided until the very last day.
The QSOOM will wrap up this year with the Queensland Women’s Senior Amateur and the Queensland Men’s Senior Amateur events to be held in the last week of July 2016. Last year’s prize winners are all in the hunt again this year.
In the Men’s PresCare QSOOM, Peter Hannah (Scratch winner last year) is leading the way, followed closely by Tim Deakin (winner Nett last year), Mario LaChiusa (runner up Scratch last year) and John Costello. Trevor Box (winner Super Senior last year) is also in the running.
The Ladies PresCare QSOOM is currently being led by Josie Ryan (winner Scratch last year) followed by Wendy O’Connell (winner Nett last year), Cheryl Sternberg (runner up Scratch last year) and Gwen Clutterbuck (runner up Nett last year).
After their involvement with the QSOOM events for the last three years, PresCare is also sponsoring the Queensland Senior Amateur this year. This championship will be played at Bribie Island Golf Club from July 25-27.
PresCare is one of the most established and technologically progressive aged care providers in Queensland. They offer excellence in all aspects of care, including specialities in the sub-acute, palliative and dementia fields.
Golf Queensland appreciates PresCare’s generous sponsorship of the QSOOM programme and the Senior Amateur events.
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QUEENSLAND |
PRESCARE |
SENIOR ORDER |
OF MERIT |
|
|
Name |
Club |
Events |
Best 8 Events |
|
1 |
Peter Hannah |
Pelican Waters |
11 |
1250 |
|
2 |
Timothy Deakin |
Mcleod |
17 |
1190 |
|
3 |
Mario La Chiusa |
Nudgee |
13 |
1125 |
|
4 |
Trevor Box |
Windaroo Lakes |
8 |
1050 |
|
5 |
John Costello |
Nudgee |
9 |
945 |
Indooroopilly PresCare Seniors
The Indooroopilly PresCare QSOOM event attracted a good quality field with a total of 45 players (36 men and 9 women) competing. As always the Indooroopilly course was in top condition and enjoyed by all the players.
Men
– Winner Scratch: Mario La Chiusa 73 ocb
– Runner Up Scratch: Steve Toyne 73
– Winner Nett: Rod Lowe 41 points
– Runner Up Nett: Colin Hopkins 36 points ocb
Ladies
– Winner Nett: Sue-Ellen Hopkins 34 points
– Runner Up Nett: Gwen Clutterbuck 33 points ocb
Caloundra PresCare Seniors
The Caloundra PresCare QSOOM event saw a good field of 62 players competing. Caloundra put on perfect weather and the course was excellent with the greens especially smooth and fast.
Winner Scratch: John Costello 74
Runner Up Scratch: Mario La Chiusa 76
Winner Nett: Tony Saxvik 43 points
Runner Up Nett: Peter Robson 40 points
Winner Super Seniors: Rodney McNeven 81
Runner Up Super Seniors: Daryl Norwood 83
More information on the Queensland Senior Order of Merit events here – http://www.golfqueensland.org.au/
COMING SENIOR AMATEUR EVENTS
July 11 Laidley seniors (QLD)
July 12 Wyong Seniors (NSW)
July 15-16 Coffs Coast Seniors (NSW)
July 18-20 Coomealla Seniors (VIC)
July 20-22 * Gold Coast Senior Classic
July 25-27 * Queensland Senior Amateur Championship at Bribie Island
July 25 Cabramatta Seniors (NSW)
July 30-31 Seaside Classic at Port Macquarie (NSW)
August 4 Monash Senior Masters (NSW)
August 8 Carnarvon Seniors (NSW)
August 8 Yarra Yarra Seniors (VIC)
August 9 Beerwah Seniors (QLD)
August 9 Kingston Heath Seniors (VIC)
August 12 Victoria GC Seniors (VIC)
August 15 Kooindah Waters Seniors (NSW)
August 15 Gailes Seniors (QLD)
August 15 Metropolitan Seniors (VIC)
August 15 Mandurah Seniors (WA)
August 16 Royal Melbourne Seniors (VIC)
August 17 Commonwealth Seniors (VIC)
August 22 Glenelg Seniors (SA)
August 30 Palmer Gold Coast Seniors (QLD)
September 1-2 * Kooyonga Grange Senior Classic
* Part of the Australian Senior Ranking System