DAUNTING tasks in Sunraysia golf don’t come much bigger than going head-to-head with Greg Rhodes to win a club championship.
But Jacob Slimmon overcame the heartache of previous close losses to finally win his maiden A Grade Coomealla Golf Club Championship at the weekend after 26 years of trying.
Slimmon, who has captained the club to back-to-back Murray Darling Golf Association pennant titles, managed a solid fourth round 73 on Sunday to defeat Rhodes by two strokes after the pair had started the final round all square.
It followed rounds of 71, 75 and 74 for an overall total of 293.
Rhodes finished runner-up with 295, while Justin McPhee finished four shots further back in third following an impressive 72 in the final round.
Slimmon has been a runner-up in the championships on multiple occasions, including a handful of times to Rhodes.
“It’s nice to finally get the monkey off the back and get one on the board,” he said.
“I’ve grown up in Dareton and playing at Coomealla so to finally get my name up on the board is a great feeling.
“It’s always tough going up against someone like Greg Rhodes who is just a brilliant golfer.
“It wasn’t until afterwards that I realised just how many times he’d won it, I think he had the last seven or eight in a row.
“It was essentially a matchplay game between us for the final round.”
Slimmon was able to take an early two-shot lead which he held until the 16th when a missed short putt allowed Rhodes to move within one.
A bogey on the 18th from Rhodes however allowed Slimmon to seal the title he had been working towards.
“Before the event I wasn’t all that confident, but scoring 71 in the first round definitely made me feel like I was in with a shot,” he said.
“I’ve had a lot of messages, Facebook posts and general support from so many people in the golfing community which was appreciated, I think a few people knew I’d been trying for a while.
“(Monday) morning I got a text from Ash Whitehouse to say he hoped it had sunk in, and the first one is always the best.
“Even Greg was really good during the game, after the 16th I think he could tell I was a bit nervous so he came over and told me to take a breath and keep relaxed.
“We were playing against each other but he went out of his way to help me which sums up the man up.”
Lachlan Inglis took out the B Grade title, Ron Hunt won C Grade, Craig Gursansky won the senior section, and Joel Doherty was the junior winner.
