Peter Bennett (Royal Perth) and Victoria’s Helen Pascoe (Buninyong) celebrated victory at the recent South Australian Senior Amateur Championship held at Naracoorte Golf Club. JOHN ANDERSON reports:
The South Australian Senior Championship was held at Naracoorte Golf Club from Monday 1st September to Wednesday the 3rd with a full field of over 100 entrants including regional locals, many interstaters and the usual SASOOM competitors from Adelaide.
Quite a few years since the Naracoorte Golf Club hosted the SA Senior Championship. The winner that time was Greg Rhodes which suggests you need to be a very good player to win around this testing layout.
Naracoorte GC has lobbied hard to again host and their efforts were not only on display with the quality of the course but also the providing of country style breakfasts and meals to the players. The club had also acquired local sponsors and installed new practice facilities – a great job done by this town of some 7,000, some 3.5 hours’ drive SE of Adelaide.
The course is set sand based and features an excellent mix of testing Par 3’s, some dogleg Par 4’s where position is critical and some “big” Par 4’s and 5’s where length is a great asset. “Kike” fairways limit run and the greens, running at “12” on the Sunday practice day, were a mixture of some small targets and some very large ones with lots of pin position options. Both careful and skillful putting was necessary to post good scores. Well positioned bunkering added to the genuine challenge.
Weather was pretty kind all 3 days – brisk mornings with the odd shower and even some sunshine with the wind tending to get up later in the day.
Senior Men
Last years runner up, Peter Bennett (Royal Perth,) went one better with a superb display. Having witnessed Peter’s putting struggles in the previous Grange-Kooyonga event his efforts to address this gave him a clear advantage over the field. An outstanding opening round of 70 from Peter set the tone but Tuesday’s 79 reduced his lead to only a stroke from Phil Chapman (Aston Hills) with Greg Wilson (Rosebud) and Andrew Brown (Royal Perth) making up Wednesday’s final group. All had realistic expectations, especially Brown who had shot 69 on the Tuesday.
Straight out the blocks Bennett birdied 3 of the first 4 holes and it was his to lose. Never the case as Peter returned a fine 71 to win comfortably from Chapman.
Nett winnner this category was Andrew Brown with Bennett runner up.
Super Senior Men
Only one stroke in it – Matthew Doughty (Royal Sydney) from Geoff Ashby, who is now based at nearby Lucindale after calling a number of Adelaide clubs, home plus Tea Tree Gully stalwarts Chris Everett and Norm Cordina.
Doughty also won the Nett confirming his steady play with Everett second.
Senior Women
Actually it was the Super Senior ladies who performed best – Helen Pascoe (Buninyong) by the barest margin from Bridget Hill (Woodlands) with Rebecca Brown (Yarra Yarra) coming in third.
Local Jill Williams won the Nett from Rebecca Brown.
Super Senior Women
Pascoe and Hill with long term visitor to SA events, Lyn Banks (Scone) third.
Reward for Lyn in winning the Nett from Michelle Justin (Lucindale).
Naracoorte was announced as the venue for 2026 – a popular decision and well deserved for the club’s efforts. It is not easy to find clubs prepared to give up 3 days of member access and normal income.
For Full Results go to: https://www.golf.org.au/events#/competition/4592395/leaderboard
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SENIOR MEN Winner: Peter Bennett (Royal Perth) 70/79/71 = 220 Runner Up: Phil Chapman (Aston Hills) 74/76/75 = 225 Third: Greg Wilson (Rosebud) 75/76/76 = 227 Best Nett: Andrew Brown (Royal Perth) (74/69/76 = 219 Nett Runners Up: Peter Bennett (Royal Perth) 70/79/71 = 220
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SENIOR WOMEN Winner: Helen Pascoe (Buninyong) 90/82/82 = 254 Runners Up: Bridget Hill (Woodlands) 88/83/84 = 255 Third: Rebecca Brown (Yarra Yarra) 87/86/86 = 259 Best Nett: Jill Williams (Naracoorte) 78/75/74 = 227 Nett Runner Up: Rebecca Brown (Yarra Yarra) 77/77/76 = 229 |
SUPER SENIOR MEN Winner: Mathey Doughty (Royal Sydney) 79/83/78 = 240 Runner Up: Best Nett: Mathey Doughty (Royal Sydney) 79/83/78 = 240 Nett Runner Up: Chris Everett (Tea Tree Gully) 81/82/78 = 241 |
SUPER SENIOR WOMEN Winner: Helen Pascoe (Buninyong) 90/82/82 = 254 Runner Up: Bridget Hill (Woodlands) 88/83/84 = 255 Third: Lyn Banks (Scone) 90/87/88 = 265 Best Nett: Lyn Banks (Scone) 79/76/77 = 232 Nett Runner Up: Michelle Justin (Lucindale) 83/77/79 = 239 |
SA Senior Order of Merit
The SA Senior Championship also finalised the SA Order of Merit for 2025 determined from the best 6 rounds returned.
Phil Chapman, who only became age- eligible half way through the year played well in a limited number of events and the extra points available in the Championship enabled him to win over the consistent Tony Nobbs.
Amanda Heapy performed well all year and was a worthy winner.
The evergreen Michael Richards defended his trophy and added to the many, many awards he has won both as a senior golfer and as a “junior” including being the record holder for matches in SA Division One Pennant.
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Women’s Gross Winner: Amanda Heapy (The Vines of Reynella) Women’s Gross Runner Up: Susan Olsen (Grange) Women’s Gross Third: Christine Trimmer (The Vines of Reynella)
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Men’s Gross Winner – John Beaumont Trophy: Men’s Gross Runner Up: Tony Nobbs (The Vines of Reynella) Men’s Gross Third: Paul Gregory (The Vines of Reynella) |
Super Senior Men’s Gross Winner – Tony Mazzone Trophy: Michael Richards (Tea Tree Gully) Super Senior Men’s Gross Runner Up: John Keogh (Glenelg) Super Senior Men’s Gross Third: Brian Welsh (Glenelg) 238
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Women’s Nett Winner: Amanda Heapy (The Vines of Reynella) Women’s Nett Runner Up: Susan Olsen (Grange) Women’s Nett Third: Rosemary Underwood (Blackwood) 452
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Overall Men’s Nett Winner: Paul Gregory (The Vines of Reynella) Overall Men’s Nett Runner Up: Tony Nobbs (The Vines of Reynella) Overall Men’s Nett Third: Phil Chapman (Aston Hills) |
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For Full Results visit: https://www.golf.org.au/orderofmeritinfo/