Robinvale joins top golf grade

ROBINVALE will join the perennial powerhouses in Division 1 for the new Murray Darling Golf Association Pennant season, which begins on Sunday.

Twenty-two teams representing seven clubs will compete across three men’s and one women’s divisions over the coming seven weeks.

Last year’s Division 2 winners have made the jump to the top grade and have added last year’s district championship winner Dom Vartuli to the squad, who has come across from Red Cliffs.

A rotational squad of seven will represent Robinvale in Division 1, with Vartuli joined by Jarrad Stokker, Blaine Cucia, Brad Hallam, Shaun Clarke, Damon Southgate and Alex Spooner.

Traditional foes of Coomealla, Riverside, Red Cliffs and Mildura will have a strong team for Robinvale to contend with.

Vartuli, who will be unavailable for this week’s opening fixture as he is away on his honeymoon, said everyone was excited to have Robinvale in the top grade.

“Personally I was really keen to get an extra team into the competition so there’s a bit more variety than just the four teams,” he said.

“The Robinvale guys helped get me back into golf so I thought I would try and give back and support them where I could, and try to get more people to play out there.

“Robinvale gets forgotten about sometimes as it is a bit out of the way but it’s a really nice course to play.

“It’s still a new thing for a lot of the boys out there but it’s all about having some fun. I personally think match play is the best way to play golf, it’s just one on one, one hole at a time, and a lot of fun.

“Long term I’d love to see Broken Hill potentially rejoin the competition, even Merbein enter a Div 1 team, it’s more about us all supporting all the clubs as much as we can.”

Coomealla are two-time reigning champions in both Division 1 men and women since Pennant’s return after COVID.

Each round, teams of five go head to head with their opposition, playing one on one against a direct opponent.

Players aim to win more holes as they receive a point for each hole won against their opponent, resulting a point for the team if they win the head-to-head score.

If the result is halved, each team claims half a point.

The opening round of the Pennant season is at Red Cliffs Golf Club on Sunday, with the finals to be held at Coomealla Golf Club on November 17.