Good afternoon all,

Today saw many of our members battling it out for the honour of being the Club or Grade Champion for 2020.

In the Open Championship Calvin Plowright started the day with an 8 stroke lead, over 4-time champion Dareen Kershaw, with Aaron Saykan a further 5 back and Jas Kooner needing to make up a lot of ground.

As is always the way, things started tight. Calvin was 1 under through 7; birdieing the 2nd, bogeying the 6th but striking right back with a birdie on 7 to keep the pressure on. Darren also had birdies on 2 & 7 but a bogey on the 4th gave Cal some breathing room.

Disaster threatened on the 8th with Cal finding water and walking off with a triple bogey 6, as Darren made par and they turned 39 to 36 with Darren clawing back 3 strokes. Aaron was playing solid golf to turn in 37 and Jas was on a roll turning -1 after back to back birdies on 7 and 8.

Conditions started to deteriote with the wind beginnning to gust and swirl, and both Calvin and Darren played some scratchy golf over the next few holes.

Aaron was again solid on the back 9 finishing with a 37 for 74, and Jas was continuing where he left off on the front, with another 3 birdies before an unfortunate bounce into a ti-tree bush on the 18th saw him unable to find his ball (despite 20 blokes watching it land!) and after the penalty drop and replay, he finished with a 7 for a 73 off the stick (But a -4 nett to take out the December medal!).  Darren played solid golf over the closing 6 holes, going just 1 over from 13 to 18 to hang in and keep the pressure on, but despite finding the water off the tee on 18, Calvin was able to hold off the challenges to win by 5 strokes.

 

Congratulations Calvin Plowright – YGC Club Champion 2020

In the A Grade Championship it was going to be a very tough for anyone to overcome Calvin’s lead, with Jack Leonello the only real (outside) chance starting 10 strokes adrift with yours truly losing any hope after a 9 on the second (and don’t even mention the 8 on 18 last week Michael!).

Jack played 4 great rounds of golf, but a few coslty laspes today, mixing birdies with double bogies, cruelled any chance of clawing back the lead Clavin had built.  In the end Clavin ran out a 7 stroke winner in the A Grade (handicapped) event. Well done Cal.

 

Congratulations Calvin Plowright – A Grade (Nett) Champion 2020

The B Grade championship seemed like a 2 horse race, with Shayne Cairns riding a wave of great form to enter the final round 5 strokes ahead of Paul Biancotto, 9 strokes ahead of  John Frawley and 12 strokes up on Witho.

A par on the 1st saw Shayne consolidate his lead as Paul started with a 6, but from there both Shayne and Paul played some scratchy golf, unable to find the form that had put them atop the leaderboard. Meanwhile John and Witho where quiretly going about their business, chipping away at the lead. By the end on the front 9 John had fought back from 9 behind to be only 1 stroke down at the turn, and Witho had also clawed back 6 strokes. Paul had a scrappy front 9 but still worked his way 1 stroke closer to Shayne, who finished the front 9 at +5.

The back 9 turned into a see-sawing affair, with all 4 players still in the hunt. In the end, Shayne and John were level standing on the 18th tee. John held his nerve to finish with a 5, for a -2 total over the 4 rounds, giving him a 1 stroke victory over Shayne (-1), with Paul finishing at (+1) and Witho (+2).

 

Congratulations John Frawley – B Grade (Nett) Champion 2020

 

 

A blanket could have been thrown over the contenders for the C Grade Championship. Victor Cheche shot the round of his life in round 3 to surge to a one stroke lead and into contention, meanwhile Sammy Pandarakanu had a round he would like to erase in round 3, finishing 10 over. Ange Temouskos, Mark Bazzoni, Bruce Thomas and Jacqui Lamoureux where all in the mix leading to the final, while Micheal Hou and Howard Thomsett were well back.

The contest was tight across the fron 9, with no player able to stamp there name into the Cup, Ange and Howard both had the best of the front, finishing +1 to move closer to the lead, while Jacqui squared with the card. Victor had played the front 9 +2, gaining 4 shots on Sammy P (+6) to stretch his lead. 

Ange continued her form to the back 9, finishing even on the round and (+9) total, Howard stormed home (-3) to finish one under for the day and (+11) across the event but in a true reversal of form Sammy P found his mojo on the back 9 finishing (-3) while Victor crashed to an 8 on the 16th on his way to a (+7) back 9 and (+9) round, falling down the leader board to finish  equal fourth with Jacqui on (+13).

 

Congratulations Sammy Pandarakanu – C Grade (Nett) Champion 2020

Well done to all our members who battled the course, the elements and each other, in good spirits and with great sportsmanship, and hearty congratulations to the winners, and commiserations to the runners up. Remember, there are no losers in golf, it is after all just a game, and the joy is in the playing – it is not life – nor does it determine who we are or what we value.

To be able to once agian play this game we all love so much is a blessing, and the burdens and challenges of this past year really put so much in perspective as we were forced to pause our lives and reflect on where we were, and where we were headed. As always, it is an honour and a privilege to serve this Club and our membership as President.

 

Thank you all for your patience and tolerance across the year, and I look forward to seeing you all on course over the next few months.

 

Regards

 

Stuart Thompson

President YGC

 

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