RED Cliffs is one step ahead of Mildura in the quest to face Coomealla in the division 1 men’s final of Murray Darling Golf Association pennant.
Despite Mildura having the home course advantage, Red Cliffs took the win 3-2 in their match-up in Sunday’s penultimate round of the competition.
Scores remain tight, and if Mildura can win over Riverside this Sunday, combined with Red Cliffs going down to Coomealla, they can still leapfrog their way into the decider in Robinvale.
District Champion Dom Vartuli returned from injury for Red Cliffs to record a 4/3 victory over Mark Woodhouse, while narrow wins also went to Justin McPhee over Cam Stewart 1-up and captain Daryl Morgan 2/1 over Rob Toms.
Ash Whitehouse’s final hole win over Troy Germane and Joe Rocca’s 2/1 win over Brad Steer ensured the result went down to the wire.
Riverside earned their first points with a halved match against Coomealla, despite some heavy individual losses.
Coomealla youngster Ben Doherty was extremely impressive with a 7/6 win over Simon Dale and Jacob Slimmon secured a 5/4 win over Leigh Fuller.
Victories to Steve Wilmann, 3/2 over Garth Doherty, and Brendan Rowse, 2/1 over Troy Neville made it two wins each.
Ultimately it was the halved game between big hitter Jarrod Stokker and defending pennant winner James Daly that saw the teams split the points.
Coomealla are also through to the division 1 ladies final in a bid to defend their title, their 3-2 win over Riverside ensuring they are undefeated after four rounds
Solid wins came from Sue Laird 4/3 over Lisa Garioch, Salli Fox 5/3 against Wendy Dawson and Nia Whittle scoring a 5/4 victory over Pat Riordan.
Mildura had a massive 4.5 to 0.5 win over Red Cliffs to take them one step closer to making the final.
Sandra Hutchinson, Marg Morrison, Helen Treacy and Kim Ingram all came up trumps, the latter claiming victory on the final hole against Sandra Marwood, while Jenny McCoy and Jan Lloyd squared their contest.
In the division 2 men’s competition, all victors recorded strong wins.
The previously undefeated Robinvale suffered a 4-1 loss at the hands of Riverside, Coomealla recorded a 4-1 victory over Mildura, headlined by a 6/4 win to Ivan McKenzie and 5/4 win for Phil Moisidis, while Red Cliffs def Merbein 4-1, Gary Nunn’s 1-up win over Alan Gourlay the closest result.
In the division 3 intra club battle, Red Cliffs P2 defeated Red Cliffs P1, Ula Henry and Jason Plant earning tight wins while two head-to-head contests were squared.
Mildura Gold were too strong for Ouyen winning 4-1, Roy Latta earning the only win for the visitors, Coomealla got the job done over Mildura Black 3.5 to 1.5, thanks to wins from Paul Matthews, Greg Lee and Michael Smallwood, and Riverside recorded a strong 4.5 to 0.5 win over Robinvale, Justin Harvey earning the half point for the defeated side after squaring with Glen Walker.
The fifth and final round of Pennant is at Riverside Golf Club on Sunday beginning at 8am.
