THIRD place finishes were the rage for Murray Darling Golf Association during Victorian Country Week in Traralgon.
The men’s Shield side completed their four games with a 2-2 record to split the table, while the Division 1 Women were one of three teams to finish 1-2 with no side able to stop the red-hot Golf Peninsula.
Following his recent District Championship win, Dom Vartuli had a brilliant week going undefeated with three victories and a halved game across the four matches.
It was the perfect start for the Murray Darling men’s team on Monday as they smashed Peninsula 6-1.
Mildura duo Ash Whitehouse and Cam Stewart were the big winners on the opening clash with Vartuli (Riverside), Jacob Slimmon and Justin McPhee (both Coomealla) also getting wins, while Riverside’s Brendan Rowse and Red Cliffs’ Daryl Morgan halved their matches to secure the result.
Facing Ballarat was a different prospect, however, as the MD side went down 6.5 to 0.5, with only Vartuli securing any points with a halved contest against Sean Klain from Ballarat Golf Club.
Next came a 6-1 loss to eventual winner West Gippsland, despite a promising start after Vartuli grabbed a one-hole victory over Drouin’s Ryan Hammond.
The rest of the card however would go against them with McPhee, Morgan, Whitehouse and Slimmon all defeated in close contests.
The final contest ended in a 4.5 to 2.5 victory over Goulburn Murray.
Whitehouse led the charge with a strong 4-and-5 result, Morgan and Vartuli also saluted while Coomealla youngster Ben Doherty, in his first appearance of the tournament, was one of three players to halve their contest.
Women’s Division 1 was dominated by Golf Peninsula who won all three matches and overall compiled an incredible score of 17.5 – 3.5.
Murray Darling started with a close 4-3 loss to North Eastern, with Riverside’s Lisa Garioch and Coomealla’s Lee Bottomley both securing victories. Ann Bowen (Coomealla) and Malissa Wheatley (Broken Hill) halved their games for the extra point.
A 4-3 victory over Goulburn Murray gave them a sniff, Mildura youngster Sophie Crouch having the best result of the match-up with a 5-and-4 win to help the local squad recover from a 2-0 deficit.
Bowen and Wheatley pulled off remarkably tight victories to secure the win to still give them hope.
In their final leg, however, they fell short losing 6.5 to 0.5 against Golf Peninsula.
Bottomley halved her game against Abby Coombes of Mornington for the half-point.
