Penola Triumphant

On Sunday the Penola Handicap pennants team travelled to Naracoorte to take on Padthaway in the grand final. With wintery weather things looked like it would stay wet for most of the day but cleared out shortly after hit off.

The first pairing of Curt Evans and Eric Saunderson saw Curt immediately getting out to an early lead winning the first hole. This match was always going to be close with Curt giving away 11 shots and at the halfway mark scores were level. Both players were playing good golf with Saundie going 3 up on the turn.

Curt keep on fighting and with 2 holes to go was 2 down before he staged a comeback winning the next 2 holes, nailing a pressure putt on the 18th for par and forcing the match down the 19th. Curt had to give his opponent a shot on this hole but a brain fade from Saundie saw him waste 3 shots before reaching the green. This let Curt in and he made the putt to win the match and the deciding rubber to give Penola victory.

The next grouping was Pete Bullock and Troy Matthews with Pete having to give away one shot. Pete was keen to get a win as all his matches before have been close but he just hasn’t quite got the win. The match was close all day till Pete got the edge just after the turn and from there on keep up the pressure and it was to be Pete’s day though, as he played some very consistent golf to defeat the previously undefeated Troy winning on the 16th to finish 3 up.

John Wilkinson took on Brian Slape in the third match with both players having the same handicap it was going to be a tight contest. John won the first hole, the lost the next and halved the 3rd before repeating this again on the next 3 holes.

At the turn John had managed to sneak ahead by one and crept out to be 4 up coming down the 15th, having Bryan dormy. A half was all that was needed to finish the match giving John a faultless record for this year.

Andrew Hutchesson gave one shot to Scott Longbottom and both players came out firing early parring the first 3 holes before Scott won the next. This stirred Senior and he won the next couple of holes before dropping 2 to go 1 down at the turn.

From this point on Andrew was playing catch up and giving a shot on the 10th saw Scott par 4 of the next 5 holes, defeating the previously undefeated Senior on the 14th with the score 5 up with 4 to go.

The last group was the 2 team Captains of Greg Hutchesson and Paul Elsdon with Greg giving away 5 shots. Both players got away to a good start with Greg settling first early and after 6 holes was 3 up. He was hitting greens in regulation and putting well, with a birdie on the fourth was 1 under the card before bogey’s on 7th and 8th.

Going into the turn with a 3 shot lead Greg continued on but a spirited fight back saw Paul hanging on and slowly getting the match back to square on the 18th. This is where the match finished; with a result already decided there was no need to continue on.

Golf South East Mens Handicap 2014 Champions