hometown pair surprises - hutchesson and holden combine for ambrose victory

Local duo Greg Hutchesson and Chris Holden were surprise winners of the 2013 Elders South East Pairs Ambrose Championships at Penola Golf Club over the weekend.
The event in the past has attracted some of the best golfers in the South East to compete for over $1000 in prizes, courtesy of Elders Penola.
The field was down a little this year with 72 players competing, but most notably, the absence of some of the near scratch golfers meant that this year it would be a wide open event.
In almost perfect warm and tropical conditions, the course was at its prime to give players the best chance to score well.
Mid sixties were tipped to win, but in the end there was a bottle neck at the top, with Holden and Hutchesson shooting 69 to be the early club house leaders.
The Blue Lake team of Bill Burley and Matt Jennings also came in with 68 off the beater to force a play-off.
The local boys won the toss and Hutchesson hit first in front of a large crowd of onlookers.
Hutchesson hit a near perfect shot to within five feet of the pin to put the pressure on Burley and Jennings.
Holden also put his ball on the green, then watched both Burley and Jennings go over the back.
They recovered to be a good chance of making par, but Hutchesson made no mistake with the putt for birdie, which gave them the unlikely win.
Holden shrugged off the disappointment of losing the B Grade Championship the week before to play much more fluent golf and lead the way for the duo.
The pair racked up five birdies on the back nine for 32 to set up the win.
The runners-up Bill Burley and Matt Jennings made plenty of birdies as well, but a bogey on the par 3 13th was a costly blemish.
In third place were their playing partners, Tony Brooks and Mark Dalton, also from Blue Lake.
A 33 on the back nine was enough to take third in a countback over John Mossop and John Monfries.
In the handicap competitions, Steven Skeer and Ross Anderson combined beautifully to score nett 62.25 for a comfortable win.
In matching outfits of thinning stripes, Skeer coached Anderson brilliantly on how to putt on the Penola greens, and they hardly missed a beat.
They had three birdies for the day with only two bogeys.
Runners-up were the Mount Gambier youngsters, Caleb Perry and Joel Weijens, who had nett 63 after a bogey free round.
The Lucindale pair of Pitt and Copping had nett 64 to finish in third place thanks to three birdies on the back nine.
Finishing fourth was Lachie Stewart and Jack Hassell to pick up their second prize in as many years.
Lion Nathan were generous sponsers, with a carton of beer up for grabs for each of the nearest pins on every hole and three longest drives.
There were plenty of happy golfers who went home with a prize.
With the smell of freshly barbecued seafood skewers and secret recipe hamburgers wafting across the course, players were well looked after thanks to Steven Hill from Elders Penola.
The tournament is in its third year and is still building to be one of the more prestigious events on the calendar.
The course was in superb condition and players from around the South East commented positively on the course layout.
The event will continue in 2014, around the last Sunday in October and hoped to once again get close to 100 entries.