In a year that has had its ups and downs for golf in our area, it is fair to say 2019 has been one of the best in recent times.
With our men’s Country Week team winning division 1 for the first time in the history of district golf and our Women’s Country Week team winning division 2 for the first time in 34 years, we as a district can hold our heads high on the performance of our top-level golfers.
Next year, our two representative teams will take on the best golfers in Victoria side by side in division 1.
When looking at junior golf in our area it is important to be comparative to junior golf in general in Victoria and Australia and numbers have been declining for many years. How this can turn around – or if it ever will – is uncertain.
This means when looking at the junior golfers in our area the more important factor to consider is quality not quantity.
In 2018, Madeline Jukes had a breakout year, going from being a good golfer, to one that showed potential to take her game to wherever she wants with hard work. This year has been a continuation of last year with some fantastic scores put on the board in important events. All that is needed now is some consistency from round-to-round and week-to-week.
Stephanie Baker may be one of the brightest shining stars that our district has seen come through the ranks in many, many years with a massive reduction in her handicap throughout the year.
Emmalee Beggs has also shown some great form in 2019 and is standing on the edge of the handicap cliff with a big drop just around the corner.
As is the case for many teenagers, one hurdle Emmalee is facing is that she is a great all-round sportsperson with golf currently being an option.
Hopefully, golf wins out at some point and becomes the focus moving forward.
It is fair to say that this year was the year of the girls in junior golf but 2020 may turn around to the boys with Ben Doherty and Joel Finch like a pair of rubber bands that are ready to spring forward to the next stage of their golfing careers.
When the ball rolls the right way for either of them their true ability will show through quickly as both are capable of being low single-figure handicap golfers.
Pennant had its ups and downs this year with division 3 and 4 and the womens’ going pretty smoothly with only some minor backlash to rule changes that can be fixed moving forward if enough people want things changed back.
In the men’s scratch pennant both division 1 and 2 combined to create one division with two finals.
The MDGA saw this as the best option of a bad list with the main goal being to continue to have two pennant flags on offer for scratch pennant grades.
This was done on the basis of a short-term fix as it is far easier to make improvements to an existing process than to start all over again.
If division 2 was scrapped altogether it would’ve been very hard to bring it back or if it was converted to handicap pennant the reality is it wouldn’t have been division 2 pennant at all but another grade of handicap pennant.
It’s done now and no one was hurt in the process, those making the decisions can now look to the future and decide what the best pathway is for all involved after hearing feedback on the processes put in place in 2019.
Hopefully four teams will be entered in both division 1 and division 2 and the MDGA can go back to two separate competitions. It won’t take much, just someone to put their hand up and say: “I’ll make it happen.”
In regards to anything golfing whether it be at your club or district related the only way your voice will make a change is to go through the correct channels.
Sitting at a table in your clubhouse at the end of a game of golf telling your playing partners all the things that should be done to improve anything generally stops at the table and just becomes a whinge.
Talk to your club captain or president if you can see something that can be improved at your golf club next year or if it is district related send an email to murraydarlinggolf@gmail.com and if that doesn’t work contact me and I will pass the information on to the right people.
If you really want to make a change though put your hand up for a volunteer role at your club or on the MDGA committee and your voice will be heard far more than telling your mates how the problems of the golfing world can be solved.
MDGA AGM
The Murray Darling Golf Association Annual General Meeting will be held on November 25 with some positions becoming vacant for the 2020 golf season.
If you would like to get on board and help out with running and co-ordinating district golf whether it be filling a vacant position or putting your hand up to fill a role that you believe you can help create improvement for the future then the AGM is your time to be heard. The final details will be advertised as to time and place but make sure you mark off November 25 as the day that you can help to make a difference.
Time to try again
Local golfers get the opportunity a couple of times a year to try the latest golf equipment and have industry experts give them advice on what golf equipment would suit and how the make up of the golf clubs should be.
Every year new golf equipment is released with golf companies telling us how much better the new model is than the one they released 12 months or two years prior.
There is only one factor that is important when looking at buying a new golf club or set of clubs and that is results.
Any golf company can pay a script writer to make their new model sound like it would be good enough to improve your golf, drive you home afterwards and make you a margarita but when it comes down to it if the golf club doesn’t give you better results than the one you’re already using then it’s a waste of money.
Rule of the week
As of January 1 this year, there were many rules of golf changed, some that have been accepted well and have made a positive change to the game, some that haven’t really changed things for better or worse and some that can be looked upon as either not positive for the game or just unnecessary.
My opinion changed throughout the year regarding the option of leaving the flag in the hole when putting.
I still don’t think many golfers have actually grasped the reasoning of why this change came into play.
It wasn’t to work out whether or not your putt had a better chance of going in if the pin was in or not; it was to speed up play.
If you get onto the green before your playing partners and you have a 30m putt where your chances of hitting the flag are extremely minimal, you now don’t need to wait until one of your playing partners can hold the flag you can just go for it with no fear of penalty.
Changing the time allowed to look for your ball from five minutes to three minutes can be looked upon with both negative and positive views.
If you haven’t found your ball in five minutes you’ve wasted a fair bit of time for your group.
I know personally that if you get to where you think your ball is and can’t find it straight away a bit of anxiety comes on thinking about how short three minutes is.
One rule that can be looked upon as a Rick Desnick (I hope everyone gets that) is the change to now dropping a ball from knee height, I feel like a fool every time I have to do it. This may be because I have T Rex arms and have to bend over always not knowing if I’m at knee height or not; but it’s not the point.
They should’ve either left it at shoulder height or changed it to a drop. Unfortunately for me and other short armed golfers this rule will now most probably stay in play for many years to come.
Hopefully there aren’t too many more changes brought in on January 1, 2020, and we can let things settle down for a few years.
If you have an interest in the rules and would like to take your learning to a new level you can do so by heading to Ballarat on November 11 and 12 where Golf Australia will be holding a level 2 Rules seminar where all golf clubs have the opportunity to attend.
This will be the final 19th hole for 2019 and all being well I hope to be back talking all things golf early in 2020.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about what has happened in our district and beyond in the golf world this year.
Make sure you get out and play as much golf as you can over spring and summer, and enjoy the wonderful golf courses our district has to offer. I hope you and your family have a safe and happy end to 2019 and a great start to 2020 when it comes round.
