Darryl Hearsch wraps up all the latest senior golfing action from around the country
NATIONAL
Barltrop wins again at the Gold Coast Seniors
The kiwi domination continues for Michael Barltrop after making it two in a row in winning the Gold Coast Seniors. Michael won the Gold Coast Seniors in 2018 and is now amassing an impressive collection of titles.
Michael also won the Sydney Classic in 2018 and 2019 and is a strong supporter of the Australian Senior Order of Merit circuit and regularly crosses the ditch in search of more titles.
The Gold Coast Seniors is played over three fantastic courses on the Gold Coast. Round 1 is played at Lakelands, round 2 at The Glades and round 3 at Links Hope Island. The Gold Coast District Golf Association under the leadership of President Neil Steinhardt and his team run a fabulous event and this event should be on all senior golfers must play list. This year, players were introduced to the Golf Genius app which provides players with live scoring during the event. All of this can be done via your phone and was easy to use.
At Lakelands in Round 1, five players all tied with rounds of 73 to lead the field. These players were Michael Barltrop (Royal Auckland & The Grange), Warren Colefax (Murwillumbah), Ian Frost (Arundel Hills), Brad Dowling (Southport) and Ross Percy (Cobram-Barooga).
In round 2 at The Glades, Michael Barltrop stormed into the lead with a brilliant one under par 71 to take a four-shot lead into the final round at Links Hope Island. The only other players who would threaten Michael were Ian Frost, Stefan Albinski (Mona Vale) and Warren Colefax who would all make up the final group.
After the final round at Links Hope Island, Michael Barltrop finished two shots ahead of Stefan Albinski, who posted the round of the day, a brilliant one under par, 71.
In the nett event, Chase Callcott won the 55-59 age group with -1. Ian Frost won the 60-64 group with +2, Col Halam (Redcliffe) took out the 65-69 with -6 and the over 70’s was won by Carl Stedman (Royal Hobart) with +3.
Final Scores:
218 Micahel Barltrop (73-71-74)
220 Stefan Albinski (75-74-71)
223 Warren Colefax (73-76-74)
224 Ian Frost (73-75-76)
225 Gordon Claney (78-72-75)
228 Brad Dowling (73-76-79)
Rhodes wins another Queensland Seniors
Greg Rhodes, Australia’s best senior amateur, has successfully defended his 2018 Queensland Seniors Amateur Championship with another win in the 2019 Queensland Seniors Amateur Championship at the River Course at Coolangatta Tweed Heads Golf Course.
Greg’s first round of 72 showed off his class. All good players have the knack of finishing off a round as Greg made birdies on 16, 17 and 18 to shoot 72. Two shots behind Rhodes on 74, was Steve Stanton (Southport) with a further shot back on 75 to Warren Colefax (Murwillumbah), Michael Lucas (Harvey) and Chris Everett (Tea Tree Gully).
Greg’s second round of 69 spread eagled the field. He fired off four birdies and one bogey to take a commanding seven shot lead going into the last round. Greg enjoys the harder back nine of the river course as he made birdies on 14, 16 and 18 to complete the nine in two under par, 34.
With a comfortable final round of 76 saw Rhodes finish with a six-stroke margin over the real surprise of the tournament, ex Sydney sider, Steve Stanton. Stanton a five marker, gave all his rivals (bar Rhodes) a golfing lesson in finishing second after rounds of 74, 74 and 75. Michael Lucas finished alone in third place just ahead of Victorian super star Gordon Claney.
Rhodes when interviewed after his win said, “I tried to be consistent with the putting and chipping this week.”
The nett winner was Redcliffe member Colin Hallam, after he returned nett scores of 69-69 and 80 to edge out Greg Duguid (Sanctuary Cove) by a single shot. Queensland Senior Men’s Championship age division winners (gross) were as follows: 55-59 years, Robbie Berne (Prospect Vale) 228; 60-64 years, Warren Colefax (Murwillumbah) 217; 65-69 years, Gordon Claney (Kingston Heath) 225; 70 + years, Rodney Dale (Coolangatta Tweed) 237.
Final Scores:
217 Greg Rhodes (72-69-76)
223 Steve Stanton (74-74-75)
224 Michael Lucas (75-73-76)
225 Gordon Claney (77-72-76)
228 Robbie Berne (76-76-76) and Warren Colefax (75-75-78)
232 Chris Everett (75-77-80)
Hargraves and Purser win the Darwin Open Seniors
Peter Hargraves (Darwin) had a double win in the Darwin Open, winning both the Men’s seniors and Men’s Open title which is a huge achievement. Darwin is a happy hunting ground for Hargraves who earlier in the year won the NT seniors at Darwin golf club. After a slow round one start of 79, Hargraves got his game into gear returning scores of 71 and 74 in his final two rounds to finish eight shots clear of runner-up Tom Harold (Darwin).
In the men’s nett event, Paul Edwards (Darwin) won with 219 with rounds of 70,77 and 72 to finish one shot ahead of Tom Harold on 220.
In the women’s event, Vicky Purser won the Darwin Open Senior title with rounds of 83, 87 and 83 to finish twenty one shots ahead of runner-up Lyn Rosel on 274. In the women’s nett event, Kerri Crowley won on a count-back from Sue Gardiner after both returned nett scores of 223 for the three rounds.
More: http://www.bluesoom.com/
NEW SOUTH WALES
Karren wins the Coffs Coast Seniors
In magnificent winter conditions with bright blue skies and temperature in the low 20’s John Karren (Mona Vale) had played two great rounds to win the Coffs Coast Senior Classic.
On the first day at the beautiful Bonville Golf Club, 77 players faced the starter and at the end of the day, three players were leading with rounds of 76. Victorian Stephen Valentine (Kew), Ken Brewer (Lynwood) and John Karren were leading with “youngster” Andrew Lamble (Killara) one shot behind. Two shots behind were Ross Rees and Michael Krillich and three shots back were a numbers of players including Wayne Buick (Royal Canberra) and Ian Ashbury (Shoalhaven).
The second day moved to Coffs Harbour Golf Club and due to recent rain the course was wet, however the Bermuda greens were running very fast, in particular, down grain. John Karren shot a great even par round of 70 to win by six shots from Wayne Buick. John putted the quick greens exceptionally well using the putter only 27 times during the round with his birdie on the very difficult 16 being the highlight. Wayne Buick returned to form with a final round of 73. Michael Krillich had a strong final round of 74 to finish third in the gross event and also win the 36 hole nett prize.
In the over 65’s, Dale Tapper (Wakehurst) won with a 36 hole total of 157 to finish one shot ahead of Richard Greville (Magenta Shores) on 158.
Karren “2 from 2” in winning the Carnarvon Seniors
John Karren (Mona Vale) backed up his win at Coffs Harbour with another win in the Carnarvon Seniors. His four over par score of 76, finished one shot ahead of Dale Tapper (Wakehurst) who carded a 77. With only four scores better than 80, the course was playing tough. Equal with Tapper was Mike Greska (Cabramatta) on 77 with Thomas Hunt (Cabramatta) on 79. Three players all tied on 80 to round out the top 5. These were Glen Rosewall (The Coast), Ward Hummerston (The Grange) and Trevore Beale (Mona Vale).
In the nett event, John Honeybrook (Carnarvon) took the win with a fine nett 69. Eight players tied for second place with nett 74’s. These were Dale Tapper, John Karren, Mike Greska, Ward Hummerston, Oliver Poate (Bayview), Rex Adams (Long Reef), Paul Kucia (Liverpool), Peter Keep (Shelly Beach) and Jim Pike (Bayview).
More: http://www.golfnsw.org/
VICTORIA
Sims and Pascoe win the Coomealla Seniors
Kevin Sims (Riversdale) and Helen Pascoe (Buninyong) have led from start to finish to be crowned the 2019 Coomealla Senior Open champions in their respective classes.
Sims has now won both events he has played in, backing up his performance at Tocumwal last month with another commanding victory in the men’s gross section. Going into the final round with a ten-shot lead, Sims would hold his nerve finishing on 229 for the tournament, resulting in a nine-shot win. Terry Thompson (Southern) was runner-up to Sims on 238 with Peter Bence (Penisula-Kinswood) finishing in third, a further shot back.
In the men’s nett event, it was Stan Prymke (Coomealla) who won with rounds of 71, 74 and 71 playing off a handicap of 11. Peter Bence and Brian Gary (Patterson River) were next on 218.
Helen Pascoe continued her outstanding season with a fifteen-shot victory in the women’s scratch stableford section. Pascoe had rounds of 30, 29 and 27 for a total of 86, finishing ahead of Jillian Morrsion (Midlands). Louise Watach (Queens Park) was a further seven shots back, in third.
In the women’s stableford event, it was a close battle throughout the three rounds with Lynda Saunders (Riverside) holding on to win by one with 101 points from Margaret McGlashen (Mildura) on 100 points. Third place went to Jillian Morrison with 98 points.
More: https://www.golf.org.au/victorian-events-calendar#/customer/1042/schedule/2019/8909
QUEENSLAND
Dowling and Sternberg win at Sanctuary Cove
The best scratch scores for the men came from Brad Dowling (Soutport) who had a 74, followed by Col Hallam (Redcliffe) with a 75 and Gordon Claney (Kingston Heath) next with a 79. The best nett score for the men came from Col Hallam (Redcliffe) who posted an amazing 38 points. He was followed by Paul Hurst (Pine Rivers) on 35 points and Brad Dowling (Southport) on 33 points.
The best scratch score for the women came from Cheryl Sternberg (Laidley) with an 84 followed by Joanne Collins (Wynnum) who had a 91. The best stableford scores from the women came from Cheryl Sternberg who had 28 points and Adrienne Naismith (Nudgee) and Beverley Maddison (Nambour) who both had 26 points.
Frost and O’Connell win the 2018-2109 QSOOM
The last event for the QSOOM 2018-2019 has now been held and the final results are now in. A player’s final PresCare Queensland Senior Order of Merit points total for both scratch and nett will comprise all points accrued from his/her best eight performances in designated events during that calendar year. Once a player plays more than eight designated events, his/her worst performance (e.g. lowest points total from a designated event) drops off for each additional event he plays. The player that accrues the highest total of points for performances in the designated events over the calendar year will win the PresCare Queensland Senior Order of Merit Trophy.
In the men’s scratch event, it went down to the last event for a winner to be crowned with Brad Dowling, Warren Colefax and Ian Frost all in contention. Ian Frost just finished ahead of Warren Colefax. Col Halam easily won the men’s nett event, finishing 485 points clear of runner-up, Harold Loxton. In the men’s super senior (over 65), Gray Tostee narrowly beat Dick Kamen.
In the women’s scratch event, Wendy O’Connell won and finished 275 points ahead of runner-up Alex Belonogoff on 1650 points. In the women’s nett event, it was a win to Cheryl Sternberg from Karen Collings. In the women’s super senior (over 65), only 30 points separated the first two places with Josie Ryan finishing just ahead of Barbara Panzam.
The new 2019-2020 season starts with the Gailes PresCare event in August.
More: https://www.golf.org.au/prescare-qld-senior-order-of-merit-events
WEST AUSTRALIA
Niven wins the Cottlesloe Senior
Sean Niven (Western Australian golf club) who has recently turned 55, is enjoying his senior golf with a first up win in the Cottlesloe Seniors. Sean carded a one over par score of 73 to finish three shots ahead of John Ryan (Mt. Lawley) on 76. Tied for third on 77 were John Ntoumopoulos, Michael Dunsmore (Hartfield) and John Banting (Royal Perth). In the nett event, Tim Morley tied with Mario Giancola on 36 stableford points.
With only one event remaining in the 2019 season, Michael Dunsmore (Hartfield) leads the OOM from club mate Trevor Hughes (Hartfield).
More: http://www.golfwa.org.au/cms/
COMING SENIOR AMATEUR EVENTS
August 12 SOOM Kooindah Waters Seniors (NSW)
August 12 Mandurah Senior Open (WA)
August 12 Yarra Yarra “Ray Barned Senior Amateur (VIC)
August 13 North Lakes PresCare QSOOM (QLD)
August 13 Kingston Heath Senior Amateur (VIC)
August 14 Commonwealth Senior Amateur (VIC)
August 16 Victoria Senior Amateur (VIC)
August 19 Glenelg Seniors (SA)
August 19 Gailes PresCare QSOOM (QLD)
August 19 Metropolitan Plate (VIC)
August 20 SOOM Horizons Seniors (NSW)
August 21 SOOM Newcastle Seniors (NSW)
August 23 Huntingdale Senior Amateur (VIC)
August 26 Royal Melbourne Senior Amateur (VIC)
August 28 Palmer Golf Caost PresCare QSOOM (QLD)
August 29-30 The Grange and Kooyonga Senior Open Amateur (SA)*
September 02 Royal Adelaide Seniors (SA)
September 02-04 SA Senior Amateur at Naracoorte (SA)*
September 03 Beerwah PresCare QSOOM (QLD)
September 08 SOOM Shelly Beach Seniors (NSW)
September 09 SOOM Magenta Shores Seniors (NSW)
September 09 Keperra PresCare QSOOM (QLD)
September 09-10 Bendigo Senior Amateur (VIC)
September 10 SOOM Wyong Seniors (NSW)
September 11 SOOM Kooindah Waters Seniors (NSW)
September 12 SOOM Gosford Seniors (NSW)
September 13 SOOM Everglades Seniors (NSW)
September 16-18 Victorian Senior Men Amateur at Barwon Heads and Thirteenth Beach (VIC)*
September 16-18 Victorian Senior Women Amateur at Barwon Heads
and Thirteenth Beach (VIC)*
September 19 SOOM Port Kembla Seniors (NSW)
September 20 Maroochy River PresCare QSOOM (QLD)
September 21-22 SOOM Shelly Beach Seniors (NSW)
September 24 SOOM Liverpool Seniors (NSW) CANCELLED
October 01 SOOM Camden Seniors (NSW)
October 03 SOOM Monash Seniors (NSW)
October 03 Brookwater PresCare QSOOM (QLD)
October 04 Lang Lang Senior Amateur (VIC)
October 08-10 The Australian Men’s Senior Amateur at Maroochy River, Qld (GA)*
October 13 South Pacific PresCare QSOOM (QLD)
October 14 SOOM Windsor Senior Foundation Shield (NSW)
October 14 Wanneroo Senior Open (WA)
October 15 Warwick PresCare QSOOM (QLD)
October 16 City PresCare QSOOM (QLD)
October 17 Middle Ridge PresCare QSOOM (QLD)
October 22 SOOM Dunheved Seniors (NSW)
October 22 Melville Glades Senior Open (WA)
October 26-27 SOOM Moruya Senior Open (NSW)
October 28-29 Melbourne Senior Classic (VIC)
October 31 SOOM Twin Creeks Seniors (NSW)
*Part of the Golf Australia Order of Merit (GA OOM) previously known as the Australian Amateur Ranking System.