Men make history
With the dream of doing something that had not been done before our men’s Country Week team made their way to Melbourne last week to take on the best golfers from Country Victoria.
After winning Division 2 in 2018 our team made their way into Division 1 this year coming up against teams from the Geelong, Peninsula, Ballarat and Goulbourn Murray regions.
Monday morning was the first round at Huntingdale Golf Club against Ballarat which didn’t go to plan, with only Ashley Whitehouse and Tim Walker chalking up a win.
The team walked away knowing they were not that far away though with Mark Hann, Cameron Stewart and Garth Doherty all losing 1 down on the 18th.
After an indifferent night on Monday where one of our top players went down with gluten poisoning from a pizza restaurant throwing a spanner in the works the team made its way to Cranbourne Golf Club to take on South Western from the Geelong area.
A strong comeback from the team saw Walker, Whitehouse, Cameron Stewart, Mark Hann and Garth Doherty all win to take a 5/2 win and gain some confidence for the afternoon.
Greg Rhodes made his way back into the team for the afternoon round against Peninsula which was expected to be the hardest competition of the week.
The team was only able to get three wins on the board with Whitehouse and Walker continuing on their undefeated ways and Rhodes fresh up off a spell came good just in time.
Proving how important a half can be was more evident on this afternoon than ever before with Justin McPhee, Stewart and Doherty all winning the 18th hole to halve their matches giving the team a 4.5 to 2.5 win.
With the mathematicians getting to work it was soon realised that the final round at Victoria Golf Club could only go one of two ways – we win against Goulbourn Murray and we were guaranteed to finish on top of the ladder.
If we lose we hand the win to Goulbourn Murray.
With the team selected and fired up ready to give it everything the goal was to get four wins over the line.
Doherty went out first and was in front from the start eventually getting the team’s first win of the day 4/3.
Hann was in front for the majority of the day and held off a late charge from his opponent to play one of the shots of his life into the 18th hole to win 2 up.
Whitehouse capped off one of the best weeks in his long Country Week career by winning 3/1 and going undefeated for the week.
Walker cruised to a 3/1 win also going undefeated during the week and giving the team their fourth win and the chance for reality to set in that they had just done something that had never been done before.
After what was an amazing week with a group of golfers who have been representing our district for many, many years it is now time for some of the younger golfers in the area to step up and steer the ship.
With Walker in the team this year at age 25 the average age of the team was still 42.75, if you take Tim out the team we would’ve had an average age of nearly 45.
As much as the result this year was perfect, this is not sustainable for the future and we need golfers like Jarrod Stokker, Ed Parker and some younger juniors coming through to now take the next step and lead our district into the future.
Congratulations to all involved, from a personal level, winning on Wednesday is something I will never forget and am extremely proud to be a part of.
Ladies set for top division
Our ladies for years have done OK in Division 3 at Country Week but each time they make their way up to Division 2 they have found it hard to hold their own against the stronger competition until this year.
I stated in the 19th hole the week before Country Week that I believed that we had the team this year that can get the job done and the ladies certainly proved that they are more than capable.
Day one saw the ladies play at Southern Golf Club against South Gippsland in the morning.
Wins from Madeline Jukes, Lisa Garioch, Jenny Stephenson and Sue Laird were enough to get the team off to a great start.
The afternoon was always going to be a hard task against the ladies from Ballarat and even though the team fought hard, wins from Jukes, Garioch and Lee Bottomley weren’t quite enough to get the team over the line.
Day two at Woodlands was a completely different story though with a 6/1 win against Dalhousie in the morning putting our ladies straight back into contention.
Jukes, Garioch, Bottomley, Tarsha Hawley, Stephenson and Sophie Crouch all won putting the team in a great position with one round to play in the afternoon before they sat out for the bye the next morning.
Up against the ladies from South Western, Jukes and Garioch completed their unbeaten run for the week to go with wins from Bottomley and Laird giving the team the four wins to see them win their final round of the week.
A half by Stephenson saw the final scoreline sit at 4.5 to 2.5 and put the ladies right into contention to finish on top if things fell their way on the final day.
South Western winning 5/2 over South Gippsland was certainly not a perfect situation for our ladies but after a count back process was conducted it was realised that they had finished on top of the ladder, had won Division 2 for the first time since 1985 and had now won their way into Division 1.
What a week.
This was an amazing effort from all involved and for Jukes and Garioch to go through undefeated the future looks bright for our District.
The team can now set their sights on making a run at the Division 1 title next year and if all players from this year’s team are available again next year I see no reason why they shouldn’t go through the next 12 months quietly confident that they have the team that can get the job done.
District championships
The final major event for the year will be played this weekend at the Coomealla Golf Club with the MDGA’s District Championships being played over 36 holes.
The walk up favourite would’ve been Greg Rhodes in the men’s section after recent form but he will be away playing the National Senior Championship.
This leaves the field wide open but after the form shown from Ashley Whitehouse at Country Week he may have it in him to get the job done.
A long list of golfers could put their hand up this weekend but I wouldn’t be surprised if James Daly is there at the end pushing Whitehouse along.
In the ladies’ section Michelle Philp, Sue Laird and Jenny Stephenson should have a good battle on their hands and will hopefully see a close finish on Sunday.
This weekend also sees the playing of the MDGA Champion of Champions with all golfers who have won a scratch or handicap section in any Open or Club Championship invited to contest the Shane Doherty Cup and the Wilma Bowring Trophy.
If you have not already entered the District Championships you can do so by calling 5027 4658.
Volkswagen scramble
A FIELD 88 golfers made their way around the Coomealla Golf Course on Sunday looking to win the chance to progress to the regional final of the
Volkswagen Scramble.
With a score of 55 1/8 the winners and the only team to qualify from this round were Glen Stephen, Tim Rix, John Thompson and Mark Tregeagle.
If you would like to play an event locally Mildura Golf Resort will be hosting a qualifying on November 17 and Riverside Golf Club will also play an event on December 15. To find out more about either of these events contact the host clubs directly.
If you have any golf-related topics you would like me to look at or have a rule change you would like me to explain you can contact me at mildura@houseofgolf.com.au.
