THE first two rounds of the 72-hole men’s Riverside Club Championships will be played this weekend with a long list of past winners ready to add to their list of victories as well as some top chances looking to get their name on the honour board for the first time.
The favourite going into round 1 will be Ashley Whitehouse, as he has proven he knows how to win.
The best chances to cause an upset will be club captain Brendan Rowse, who has entrenched himself since moving to Riverside 18 months ago, and long-time members Steve Wilmann, Leigh Fuller, Andrew Thomas, Chris Thomas and Ben Hogan, who will also be keen to put their best foot forward and – with four consistent rounds – any of these golfers could be making a speech come Sunday week.
If you’re a member at Riverside and you haven’t put your name down for this Saturday, make sure you do so by calling 5023 4255 and take part in your club’s most prestigious event of the year.
Thompson takes charge
THE first round of the 54-hole Merbein club championships for the men took place on Saturday with Michael Thompson taking a commanding five-shot lead with a 75 off the stick.
Club president Andrew Fairlie is second with an 80 and may be the only chance to catch Thompson.
This Saturday could see the leader play himself into an unbeatable lead but I think there is a chance Fairlie can bridge the gap, which would lead to a tight tussle in the third and final round on Saturday week.
SAS juniors time to shine
THIS Saturday our district’s top juniors make their way to Murray Downs in Swan Hill to play in the Sunraysia Academy of Sport’s annual 36-hole tournament.
Edward Parker, Madeline Jukes, Ben Doherty, Joel Finch, Oskar Taylor, James Prictor, Stephanie Baker, Evie Parker and Emallee Beggs will all put the year’s training under head coach Michael McKenzie into play on Saturday and Sunday around the tough Murray Downs course.
The athletes have been putting in the hard yards this year with three training days a week, which has included on-course practice on Mondays, strength and conditioning on Tuesdays and training with the head coach on Thursdays.
This will give our nine representatives the best chance to get the results they are looking for and those who take the best attitude on to the course should be rewarded.
Country Week team named
THE men’s Country Week team was selected on Friday night with one of our strongest combinations ready to do everything they can to take out the Division 1 Shield.
Greg Rhodes will lead our team when they take to the course from September 30.
Ashley Whitehouse, Cameron Stewart, Mark Hann, Justin McPhee and Garth Doherty will all travel from Mildura to represent our district and, after due process was done by our MDGA president, we will also have Tim Walker in the team.
Tim has had a great two years playing Pennant in Melbourne for Yarra Yarra Golf Club and may be the difference between our team having a chance or not.
The team will play Ballarat on the first day at Huntingdale before having a rest in the afternoon with a bye.
The next day the team will make their way to Cranbourne, where they come up against South Western in the morning and Golf Peninsula in the afternoon.
The final day’s clash against Goulburn Murray will hopefully be to get our team over the line.
With less than six weeks until the team heads away, the players will start practice sessions to give them the best chance to get the result our district has not been able to achieve before.
Play 9 at Riverside
THE front nine was Riverside Golf Club’s choice last Sunday for their Play 9 event to send two qualifiers to the district final on September 27 at the Coomealla Golf Club.
In a three-man countback, Sudiran Aping finished first with 17 points and Sam Pipicella took out the second qualifying spot.
The unlucky third place went to Paul Reed, who just missed out on progressing to the next stage.
Paul, along with everyone else, will have another chance to qualify at Mildura Golf Resort on September 1 or at Red Cliffs on September 15.
Rhodes in Australia squad
AFTER a year that has been slowed down by illness, Greg Rhodes is now back on track and doing what Rhodes does.
While taking a drive with wife Angela with the caravan in tow, Rhodes stopped in at Coolangatta Tweed Heads in late July to play in the Queensland Men’s Senior Amateur and walked away with a win after shooting scores of 72-69-76 for a six-shot victory over Southport’s Stephen Stanton (74-74-75).
He has now been selected to represent Australia this weekend in Noumea with more tournaments and national representation planned for the rest of the year.
With any golf-related topics readers would like me to look at, contact me at mildura@houseofgolf.com.au
