Greg Rhodes wins his second Australian Seniors Championship
Greg Rhodes has completed one of golf’s toughest challenges, leading from start to finish to win his second Australian Men’s Senior Amateur crown.
Rhodes, 58, probably won’t write home about his closing round of 76 in blustery conditions at Royal Hobart Golf Club that left him at even par overall after the third and final round.
But his second-day 68 had established the buffer the Coomealla member needed to coast to a three-shot victory from nearest rival and past New Zealand Senior champion Michael Barltrop, of Royal Auckland.
Rhodes, who first won this title in 2015, carded one birdie and five bogeys in blustery conditions, while Barltrop’s lone birdie was cancelled out by four bogeys in his 75.
Paul Chappell, from the Hartfield Country Club in Western Australia, climbed into third place on six over following a one-over-par afternoon round of 73.
Capping a great week at Royal Hobart, Rhodes also played a key role in Victoria’s winning run to the Interstate Teams trophy on the famous Seven Mile Beach course.
Leading Scores
216 RHODES Greg 72-68-76
219 BARLTROP Michael 73-71-75
222 CHAPPELL Paul 75-74-73
224 DOWLING Brad 74-76-74
225 PETERSON Lester 73-74-78
226 CLANEY Gordon 75-77-74, OLSEN Kym 75-75-76
227 DUNSMORE Michael 76-77-74, KELLY John 75-75-77
228 MCPHERSON Ian 75-81-72, ALBINSKI Stefan 79-76-73
229 MCCLEARY Ian 78-73-78
230 DENEEFE Pancho 80-75-75, BRASHER Mark 76-77-77
Australian Team – Ian Frost, Steve Toyne, Gordon Claney, Kym Olsen. Greg Rhodes, John Davey
Australia wins the Asia Pacific Senior Golf Championship
Australia has won the Teams Championship at the 2017 Asia Pacific Senior Championship held at Royal Adelaide.
In a very close battle between the Australians and New Zealand it came down to the last few holes before Australia claimed the title it has now won seven times in the last ten years.
The winning Australian team of Ian Frost, Steve Toyne, Gordon Claney, Kym Olsen, Greg Rhodes, John Davey finished on 907 and the New Zealanders 909.
The Kiwis had their revenge in the individual event with Brent Paterson proving dominant in recording a nine stroke victory after rounds of 74-69-72.
His winning score of one under par was sensational golf on the famous Royal Adelaide course.
Australian Kym Olsen (73-73-78) was second and another Australian Stefan Albinski (72-79-76) third.
Leading Individual Scores
215 PATERSON Brent (NZ) 74-69-72
224 OLSEN Kym (Aust) 73-73-78
225 ALBINSKI Stefan (Aust) 72-77-76
227 FROST Ian (Aust) 75-76-76, DAVEY John (Aust) 72-79-76
228 BATLEY John (NZ) 76-76-76
229 TAMURA Toshiaki (Japan) 82-73-74, BARLTROP Michael (NZ) 74-79-76
231 KAMEI Takashi (Japan) 74-78-79
232 WILLIAMS Douglas (HK) 77-76-79
234 HIKICHI Risaku (Japan) 78-79-77, BELL Robbie (NZ) 76-80-78, RHODES Gregory (Aust) 75-79-80
235 CORDINA Norm (Aust) 76-80-79, CLANEY Gordon (Aust) 73-79-83
237 TOYNE Stephen (Aust) 78-76-83
239 CRANFIELD (Aust) Geoff 81-81-77
240 BANTING John (Aust) 78-80-79
VICTORIA
L-R: Ian Fraser, Ken O’Brien, Sue Wooster & Carmelle Claney – winners at the 2017 Melbourne Senior Amateur
Ken O’Brien wins the Melbourne Senior Classic
Ken O’Brien (Rossdale GC) has won the 2017 Melbourne Senior Classic, played at Spring Valley & Woodlands Golf Clubs, with rounds of 74 and 71.
The Rossdale Golf Club member produced quite a remarkable 1-under par round at Woodlands which saw him hole out from a bunker on two occasions.
O’Brien edged out Spring Valley member Greg Ebinger by two strokes who finished with rounds of 75 and 72.
Ian Fraser (Huntingdale GC) claimed top prize in the Men’s Nett competition with nett rounds of 73 and 70. Michael Doutch (Woodlands GC) enjoyed a fantastic second round of nett 67 at his home course to snatch second place from Ian McCleary (Kooringal GC) on a countback.
Sue Wooster (The National GC) made the perfect start to her Golf Victoria Seniors debut, taking out the Women’s Scratch event with 56 points. The next best was Sandra Collingwood (Keysborough GC) with 43 points.
In the Women’s Stableford event, three players were tied on 62 points after 36 holes. However, it was Carmelle Claney (Kingston Heath GC) who was determined the winner on a countback to Sandra Collingwood and Marilyn Anderson (Spring Valley GC).
Spring Valley & Woodlands come together each year to provide senior golfers with an opportunity to play on an impressive Sandbelt layout. Both clubs provided great hospitality to all involved.
The final field consisted of 67 men & 13 women and this is expect this to grow even bigger next year.
NSW
Kenny Wins the NSW Senior Open with Claney Top Amateur
Gordon Claney and Grant Kenny, respective winners of the amateur and pro divisions of the new NSW Senior Open, which sees top senior pros play alongside talented amateurs
Maybe it was destiny that Grant Kenny would go from the first group to tee off on Thursday to the last putt today to claim his first tournament victory in almost 30 years as a professional in the Senior NSW Open Championship at Thurgoona Golf and Country Club.
After enduring a sleepless night, Kenny ran out victorious by three shots from Peter Senior after starting the day one stroke behind the Queenslander.
The 51-year-old played impressively and stamped his authority on the round early. Kenny birdied the first to join Senior in the lead at seven under, and by the time they got to the tenth hole, Kenny had a five-shot lead.
“I couldn’t miss a shot on the front (nine). I saw it and hit it. Then I stood on the tenth tee, and the rest of the round became a blur.”
Senior, however, wasn’t done with quite yet. With his trademark never say die attitude., the Queenslander started to haul in the affable Sydneysider back in as they moved to the back nine.
The five-shot lead quickly became two on the par five 11th hole when Senior rolled in his birdie putt and Kenny could only make a double bogey after finding trouble from the tee.
Despite the near disaster, Kenny held his nerve over the closing holes and managed to play solidly, giving Senior little opportunity to pounce on any error.
For his win, Kenny collected a cheque for $18,000 and a start in the NSW Open at Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club beginning on November 16.
Well known Victorian Gordon Claney was the leading amateur after consistent round s of 73-73-74. He finished in a share of 16th.
Twin Creeks Senior Classic
Darryl Hearsch and Denis Dale – prize winners at the Twin Creeks Seniors
A beautiful day at Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club as the field of over 50 eager senior golfers hit off for one of the final events of the 2017 year.
Twin Creeks is the venue for the NSW Open to be held in mid November and the field was keen to test themselves on the same course as the pros.
The course was setup perfectly for the seniors. Using the gold tees removed length as a major consideration but with many of the pins in difficult positions scoring would not be easy.
The winner with a very good round of three over par 75 was Dominic Cirillo from Liverpool. He edged out Darryl Hearsch (Manly) and Ken Brewer (Concord) who were next after their rounds of 76.
The best nett round went to local Twin Creeks member David Warder with a fine score of 38 points off his 7 handicap
Division 2
Scratch Winner: Denis Dale 27pts
Runner Up: Garry O’Brien 25 pts
Nett Winner: Andrew Pritchard-Davies 35 pts
Runner Up: Steve Jones 34 pts
QUEENSLAND
PresCare Queensland Senior Order of Merit
Toowoomba Seniors
In mid October the PresCare Queensland Senior Order of Merit moved to Toowoomba for two events – the Toowoomba City and Toowoomba Middle Ridge Senior Amateurs.
A total of 51 players (45 men and 6 women) competing in the City event and a total of 59 players (49 men and 10 women) competing in the Middle Ridge event.
The City event on Wednesday was played in windy and showery conditions but the course was beautifully presented as always. It turned out to be a better day than predicted and all but a handful of players chose to play in spite of the poor weather predicted. Those who played made the right decision.
The Middle Ridge event on Thursday was played in much better conditions with the field finishing on a sunny day. Middle Ridge was a most impressive course.
If you have not played either of these courses in Toowoomba it is certainly worth the trip up the range.
The winners are listed below with special mention of Brad Dowling who completed the double with wins at both courses.
Toowoomba City Results
Men
– Winner Scratch: Brad Dowling 76
– Runner Up Scratch: John Costello 77 (ocb)
– Winner Nett: Ross Saxvik 37 points
– Runner Up Nett: David Elford 35 points
Ladies
– Winner Nett: Jinah Park 23 points (ocb)
– Runner Up Nett: Rhonda Morgan 23 points
Toowoomba Middle Ridge Results
Men
– Winner Scratch: Brad Dowling 71
– Runner Up Scratch: Ian Watkins 75
– Winner Nett: Mike Aspland 39 points
– Runner Up Nett: Ivan Walls 36 points
The Warwick PresCare QSOOM event attracted a good field with a total of 59 players (41 men and 18 women) competing.
Having come from a very wet few days on the coast it was great to have a dry day even though it was overcast and very, very windy.
The course was a credit to the club and I believe most players had a great time and are already looking forward to next year. I am looking forward to next year.
Men
– Winner Scratch: Chris Petrohilos 74
– Runner Up Scratch: Tim Deakin 75
– Winner Nett: Ross Kingston 37 points (ocb)
– Runner Up Nett: Errol McGrady 37 points
By Denis Dale
