By Denis Dale.
NATIONAL
Greg Rhodes wins his third Senior Order of Merit title
Victorian senior golfer has won the Australian Senior Order of Merit for the third consecutive year.
Rhodes won four ranking events during the year including the 2017 Australian Senior Amateur Championship. He was also a member of the winning Australian team in the Asia Pacific Senior Championship and the Australian team that defeated New Zealand for the Sanctuary Cover Trophy.
Runner up was Victorian Gordon Claney. It was the third successive runner up trophy for Claney after winning the title in 2014. He was also a member of the two victorious Australian teams and won two ranking events.
Third place went to another Victorian Kym Olsen. A member of the same Australian teams he won three events during the year.
West Australian Ian McPherson was the winner of the Over 65 medal.
2017 Year Major Titles
Senior Order of Merit
Greg Rhodes VIC
Gordon Claney VIC
Kym Olsen VIC
Over 65 Senior Order of Merit
Ian McPherson WA
Phil Towle QLD
Russell Rogers NSW
Australian Senior Amateur
Greg Rhodes (VIC)
Michael Barltrop (NZ)
Paul Chappell (WA)
Australian Senior Matchplay Champion
1. Steve Toyne (QLD)
2. Gordon Claney (VIC)
3. Greg Rhodes (VIC)
Australian Asia Pacific team
Greg Rhodes – Gordon Claney – Steve Toyne -Ian Frost -Kym Olsen – John Davey
Australia won the team Championship at Royal Adelaide
Australian team versus New Zealand
Greg Rhodes – Kym Olsen – Gordon Claney – Stefan Albinski – John Davey – John Banting – Steve Toyne – Lester Peterson – Ian Frost – Geoff Cranfield – Ken Brewer – Peter Hannah – Denis Dale (Capt)
Australia defeated New Zealand 12.5 to 11.5 at Sanctuary Cove
Golf Australia team versus the Australian Defence Forces
Mike Peeck (capt) – Tom Harold – Jacqui Morgan – Adrian Barr – Bill Wellington – Alan Bullass – John Kelly – Simon Bracegirdle – Mark Abeyaratne – Mark Gatty – Helen Pascoe – Tim Deakin
ADFGA defeated GA Seniors 14.5 to 9.5 at The National GC
South Australian Seniors Championship
1. John Davey (SA)
2. Greg Rhodes (VIC)
3. Ken Brewer (NSW), Geoff Cranfield (NSW)
Victorian Seniors Championship
1. Doug Francis (VIC)
2. John Kelly (VIC)
3. Gordon Claney (VIC)
Tasmanian Seniors Championship
1. Kym Olsen (VIC)
2. Michael Leedham
3. John Davey (SA)
NSW Seniors Championship
1. Robert Payne (NSW)
2. Michael Barltrop (NZ)
3. Stefan Albinski (NSW(, Martin Minogue (WA)
ACT Seniors Championship
1. Mark Pearson (NSW)
2. Ross Bockman (NSW)|
3. Paul Matthews (NSW)
WA Seniors Championship
1. John Banting (WA)
2. Trevor Hughes (WA), John Davey (SA)
NT Seniors Championship
1. Greg Rhodes (VIC)
2. Kym Olsen (VIC)
3. Steve Toyne (QLD)
Queensland Seniors Championship
1. Kym Olsen (VIC)
2. Ian Frost (VIC)
3. Peter Dagan (QLD)
Royal Hobart Seniors
1. Brad Dowling (QLD)
2. Steve Toyne (QLD)
3. Peter Shaw (TAS)
Gold Coast Senior Open
1. Gordon Claney (VIC)
2. Stefan Albinski (NSW)
3. Robbie Bell (NZ)
The National Senior Masters
1. Kym Olsen (VIC)
2. Mark Simon (VIC)
3. Simon Bracegirdle (VIC)
Royal Perth Senior Open
1. Paul Chappell (WA)
2. Trevor Hughes (WA), Mark Gatty (WA)
NSW Senior Classic
1. Gordon Claney (VIC), Paul Maslen (NSW)
3. Russell Bunn (NSW)
Grange Kooyonga Senior Open
1. Greg Rhodes (VIC)
2. Lester Peterson (NSW)
3. John Davey (SA)
Royal Melbourne Senior Classic
1. Greg Rhodes (VIC)
2. John Davey (SA)
3. Ian Frost (VIC)
Tasmanian Masters
Queensland’s Brad Dowling recorded his first win in an Australian Senior Ranking event with his victory in the 2017 Men’s Tasmanian Senior Masters at Royal Hobart Golf Club.
The Southport member fired a final four-over-par round of 76 to win the event by two strokes from fellow Queenslander Stephen Toyne who carded 77.
Local member and the 36-hole leader, Peter Shaw, dropped to third place on the leader board after returning an eight-over 80.
226 Brad Dowling QLD Southport 77 73 76
228 Stephen Toyne QLD Indooroopilly 78 73 77
229 Peter Shaw TAS Royal Hobart 75 74 80
232 Robbie Berne TAS Prospect Vale 81 75 76
245 Mark Abeyaratne VIC Peninsula Kingswood 81 86 78, Carl Steedman TAS Royal Hobart 81 81 83, Bill Wellington TAS Huon Valley 83 82 80
Tasmanian Seniors Championship
Kym Olsen from Victoria recorded a sensational last round of 69 to come from behind and claim the 2017 Tasmanian Seniors.
Trailling overnight leader and local champion Michael Leedham by four strokes Olsen played a great round to eventually defeat Leedham by two strokes.
Third place went to South Australia’s John Davey and fourth place to Victorian Gordon Claney.
Rounding out the top five was Stephen Graham from Hartfield in West Australia and Keith Thornley from The Lakes Golf Club in NSW.
As usual the Mowbray Golf Club ran a wonderful tournament.
218 Kym Olsen (Vic)
220 Michael Leedham (Tas)
222 John Davey (SA)
224 Gordon Claney (Vic)
228 Stephen Graham (WA) Keith Thornley (NSW)
229 Chris Everett (SA) 229
ACT Seniors Championship
Mona Vale senior Mark Pearson has easily won the 2017 ACT Seniors Championship.
Pearson had rounds of 73-73-73 to prove far too good for a strong field and a winning total of 219.
In a powerful display of top quality golf he finished at 5 over par in the championship which was played at Queanbeyan, Gold Creek and Federal Golf Clubs.
Pearson recovered from a poor start at Queanbeyan Golf Club and was 6 over par after his first nine holes. From there Pearson played beautifully to record ten birdies in the following 45 holes.
Second place went to the timeless veteran Ross Bockman who had the distinction of claiming the tournament low round with a brilliant 70 (two under) at Gold Creek. Bockman had rounds of 81-70-76 to total 227.
Third was Paul Mathews (Yass) a further two shots back on 229 and fourth was leading NSW Senior Order of Merit player Ken Brewer (Concord) on 230.
The hotly contested Over 65’s age division was won by Tuncurry star golfer Tony Kennings. He had rounds of 80-78-77 for a 54 hole total of 235 in a classy display.
The women’s championship saw Jill Blenkey make it three ACT titles in a row. Blenkey led all the way to defeat a high-quality field. Second place went to Victorian Helen Pascoe while NSW’s Jacqui Morgan finished third.
The net competition was a lot tighter with Wagga’s Peter Zotti storming home with a net 69 for a three-day net score of two under 212. Zotti was remarkably consistent shooting net 73, 70 and 69 over the three days.
He won by one stroke from the unlucky John Stephens (Mollymook) and a further four strokes shots from Graham Leake (Shell Cove).
VICTORIA
Claney wins the Victorian Senior Order of Merit
Three of Australia’s best senior amateurs fought out the finish of the Doug Bachli trophy for Victoria’s best senior golfer.
Victory went to Kingston Heath golfer Gordon Claney with second place going to defending champion Ian Frost (Bendigo). In third place was Kym Olsen from the National Golf Club.
These three were members of the six-man Australian team that won the Asia-Pacific teams event at Royal Adelaide Golf Club in October.
The handicap medals for the Paul Lulof’s trophy went to John Kelly from the Metropolitan Golf Club. He defeated Ignatius Duivenvoorden who has won this event on multiple occasions previously. In third place was Keith Finkelde from Latrobe Golf Club.
Moyne Senior Classic
Gordon Claney (Kingston Heath) found his best form when it counted most and recorded an outstanding score of 68 at Port Fairy Golf Club today to finish 4-under for the tournament and claim first prize in the 2017 Moyne Senior Classic.
The runner-up was Robert Wallace of Midlands who followed up his 74 yesterday with another good round of 75 to finish 5 over for the tournament.
Helen Pascoe (Buninyong) executed a magnificent come from behind win to claim the first women’s scratch trophy of the 2018 Order of Merit year.
Pascoe trailed Sue Dawes (Yarrawonga) by four scratch points after round one but showed her true determination in shooting a one under 71 to claim victory. Dawes finished second.
Warrnambool Seniors
Players hit off for the final round of the 2017 Warrnambool Senior Amateur on another spectacular day of warm weather and sunshine.
Both Kym Olsen of The National and Buninyong’s Helen Pascoe capitalised on their overnight leads to finish on top of the respective men’s and women’s leaderboards.
Olsen carded a highly impressive 68 today to finish 6 under for the tournament and 13 shots clear of Ian Frost (Bendigo).
Pascoe finished with 54 scratch stableford points and rounded out another outstanding year in the Order of Merit. Sue Dawes (Yarrawonga) was the next best with 49 scratch points.
The nett section was won by Chris Keeshan of Centenary Park with an excellent score of nett 138. The runner-up was George Kotaridis who finished with nett 142 and recorded his first ever hole-in-one.
NSW
Brewer win his second NSW Senior Order of Merit
Ken Brewer from Concord Golf Club has won the NSW Senior Order of Merit for the second successive year.
The season long event allows the player to count his best 14 rounds played throughout the year.
Runner up also for the second successive year was Long Reef’s Geoff Cranfield.
In third place was Laurie Cupples from Leonay Golf Club.
The medal for those aged over 65 went to Greg Stanford (Mona Vale).
1 BREWER Ken 28 events 2190 points
2 CRANFIELD Geoff 22 – 1795
3 CUPPLES Laurie 23 – 1565
4 BUNN Russell 24 – 1445
5 LEAKE Graham 24 – 1424
6 PEARSON Mark 12 – 1403
7 OSBORN John 19 – 1265
8 STANFORD Greg 19 – 1233
9 BARTLEY Neil 12 – 1228
10 GORTON Warren 19 – 1187
Long Reef Seniors
Another great day at Long Reef Golf Club and Laurie Cupples (Leonay) was certainly on fire.
Cupples fired a great round of one under par 70 and was a two-shot winner over a bunch of NSW seniors. They included Greg Stanford (Mona Vale), Graeme Howland (Dunheved), Jim Hogg (Cessnock) and Geoff Cranfield (Long Reef).
John Kempton from the Monash club was the winner of the major handicap prize with a great score of 65 from his 20 handicap.
Denis Dale showed a welcome return to form and was the winner of the Over 65 scratch.
The course was in perfect condition and the setup from club captain Les Browne was ideal for senior golf. The scoring was excellent with a third of the field playing to their handicap or better and coupled with the beautiful weather it made for a great day at Long Reef.
QUEENSLAND
McLeod Seniors
The McLeod PresCare QSOOM event was played with a total of 40 players (29 men and 11 women) competing.
The course was well presented as always and is a good test of your skills requiring the golfer to bend the ball in both directions as well as par threes that are uphill and downhill.
Ladies
– Winner Nett Rhonda Morgan 36 points
Men
– Winner Scratch Brad Dowling 73
– Winner Nett Rod McNeven 37 points
– Runner Up Nett Geoff Miller 35 points ocb
Virginia Seniors
The Virginia PresCare QSOOM event saw a total of 37 players (26 men and 11 women) competing.
Even though the forecast was not the best the weather turned out to be perfect. As usual the Virginia golf course was well presented.
It was a pretty special day today for Cec Carby, who had his first hole in one after about 50 years of playing golf.
Ladies
– Winner Nett Cheryl Sternberg 36 points
Men
– Winner Scratch Mogens Andersen 78
– Winner Nett Erroll McGrady 40 points
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Tea Tree Gully Win Again – Just!
Monday 20th November at a superbly presented Kooyonga on a hot and humid day, Tea Tree Gully won yet another South Australian Senior Pennant final over The Grange four matches to three.
This was a rematch of last year’s finalists but this year Tea Tree Gully got a real fright with Grange taking it right up to Tea Tree Gully and looking as likely winners at various stages. The result came down to the final match on the18th.
Grange got their bottom three players home but Tea Tree Gully number one John Davey, again in super form, accounted for Grange number one Eric Lane to claw one back for the defending champions.
The reliable Chris Everett won his match and it looked like the result would hinge on the number four match between Jim Richards from TTG and Grange’s Peter Sossic.
They were square through nine but then Richards played some inspired golf, including birdieing the short 14th after a tee shot that trickled back very close to the hole and a magnificent bunker shot to millimetres from the hole at fifteen. Three matches each!
Norm Cordina from TTG had been leading Kym Meyer comfortably at 4 up after 12 but struck some real troubles over the next few holes and all of a sudden he stood on the 18th tee only 1 up. The result was far from over with the pressure mounting.
A crowd had gathered on the 18th hole sensing a possible upset. Meyer hit a good drive down the left side of the fairway. Cordina hit what was his worst drive for years, failing to make the fairway.
His second was a terrific recovery to finish just short of the green and when Meyer found the bunker it was all over. A narrow win to the Tea Tree Gully team.
Tea Tree Gully have now been winners in all 11 years that Senior Pennants have been played in Spouth Australia which is a remarkable feat for this strong and close knit club and an ongoing challenge for all the others.
Again, the competition had the sponsorship of Paradise Motors Mazda, who were represented by Mr Kevin Bews at the Presentation Dinner, and all SA senior golfers who participate are most grateful for their generous support.
SA SENIOR ORDER OF MERIT WINNERS
At a very well attended dinner at Kooyonga the SA Senior Order of Merit Awards for 2017 were presented by Tony Timmins, Chairman of GolfSA.
It was an evening to celebrate a great season finale with the camaraderie amongst senior golfers very much to the fore.
John Beaumont Trophy
– Senior Gross John Davey (Tea Tree Gully)
Tony Mazzone Trophy
– Super Senior Gross Eric Lane (The Grange)
Net Trophy
– Bruce Lindner (Kooyonga)
All these players had excellent seasons and are most worthy recipients – particularly John Davey, who has impacted on the National scene and set a mark for others to chase.