Story and Photos by Noel Rowsell.
Penrith Golf Club has staged a barn-storming final round to claim the ‘Club of the Year’ title in the 2019 Western Sydney Region Veteran Golfers Association (WSRVGA) Inter-Club competition.
Trailing leaders Dunheved Golf Club by four shots, Penrith’s players saved one
of their best collective games until last to score a commanding 8-shot
victory.
Leonay Golf Club continued the trend of home clubs winning their own event but
only got past Penrith on a count-back, with both clubs recording 166
points on the day.
The finishing positions of all clubs for the season, apart from Penrith
and Dunheved, remained unchanged after the last high-scoring event, with
reigning Club of the Year Richmond in 3rd, Wallacia 4th, Leonay 5th,
Springwood 6th, Glenmore Heritage Valley 7th and Stonecutters Ridge
taking the wooden spoon in 8th spot.
The battle for ‘Male Player of the Year’ was also hotly-contested, with
leader Greg Williams (Dunheved) putting in a solid performance at Leonay
with 36 points but he would ultimately be swamped by four of his rivals
to finish back in 5th spot.
Penrith’s Russell Cruikshank climbed a staggering 9 shots in the final
round to claim the Player of the Year title on 119 points, ahead of
Peter Green (Dunheved) 118 c/b, Gary Allsopp (Penrith) 118, Graham
Anderson (Wallacia) 114, Williams 113 c/b, Ian Forrester (Penrith) 113
c/b, Phil Tunchon (Penrith) 113 c/b, Garry Smith (Richmond) 113, Stephen
Cromer (Wallacia) 111 c/b, Stephen Johnston (Penrith) 111.
On a day of high-scoring, five new faces jumped into the year’s Top Ten
ranking following red-hot scores at Leonay, with just under 20% of the
field shooting par or better, including each of the players who finished
8th or higher in the Player of the Year rankings.
In the Ladies division, Judy Loader (Stonecutters Ridge) had already
posted a staggering 8-shot lead and despite 6 of her rivals improving
their scores in the final round, could not be run down on the day,
taking out the ‘Ladies Player of the Year’ title.
Elaine Williams (Dunheved) finished runner-up on 104, ahead of Carol
Carter (Richmond) 101 c/b, Margaret Brownsell (Springwood) 101, Sarah
Dean (Glenmore) 100 c/b, Sue Evers (Springwood) 100, Carol Lozier
(Richmond) 98, Kerry Robertson (Penrith) 97, Diane Bowden (Dunheved) 96
and Mei McCormick (Leonay) 95 c/b.
LEONAY VETERANS INTERCLUB COMPETITION FULL RESULTS
