ON one of the toughest weekends in the history of Coomealla Golf Club, some of their top players have created an unexpected sense of joy.
Just days after flood waters shut down the NSW club, Coomealla’s Division 1 Men and Ladies teams emerged victorious in their Murray Darling Golf Association Pennant finals at Mildura Golf Resort on Sunday.
After losing to grand final opponents Riverside 2 last week, the Division 1 team of Jacob Slimmon, Troy Neville, Justin McPhee, Ed Parker and James Daly came home with a tight 3-2 win, with Slimmon facing off against opposing skipper Jarrad Stokker to bring home the goods.
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The Coomealla Ladies team of Ann Bowen, Jackie Horkings, Salli Fox, Angela Plumridge and Sue Laird got the chocolates over the previously undefeated Red Cliffs and despite the final result reading 4-1, three head-to-head contests went down to the 18th hole.
“It’s been a long time coming but I couldn’t be happier,” Ladies captain Bowen said.
“The girls who put their hand up to play Pennant were fully behind it. Anything I suggested, they said count me in and they’ve given it their absolute best shot.
“Their attitude has just been fantastic and it’s infectious and I’m hoping to encourage more to play next year so we can have two teams.
“The competition has been really good, and this will certainly will bring joy to a lot of people.”
Slimmon said it was a tough day against Stokker, whose long driving helped him make a late charge for victory.
“Through seven holes I was five up, he’s won the next two, I won the 11th going back to four and from there he started clawing back,” Slimmon said.
“It’s a bit hard, Jarrad’s a long golfer, some of his drives would have been well over 300 metres. Line ups were pretty important and two captains playing each other isn’t always what you want but it was a great game.
“It was good to have a win, I can’t remember the last time we won but it’s definitely been a long time. We’ve got some really good experienced golfers in our team and the support out here was great.”
Mildura 1 were the Division 2 Men’s winners, defeating Red Cliffs 3-2, while Red Cliffs flipped the script on Mildura in Division 3, also winning 3-2.
