We are now half way into our Regional Finals for 2014. Here’s a wrap of the events so far.
The Western Australian finals were run and won over two days at Secret Harbour. Pinjarra, Kalgoorlie, and Harvey took out the mixed events and Katanning won the Women’s State Final. The winning teams will head over to the far eastern side of the country in December to defend the title currently held by a WA team.
In New South Wales, Penrith kicked off proceedings by winning a close Scramble at Kooindah Waters to become the first team through to the Championship Final. On the following day the team from Dungog emerged victorious from another close result. With members from the winning team travelling from far and wide to play in the Regional Final at The Vintage.
At Riverside Oaks, the Peter Mayson lead Mudgee team looked the goods from the start, birdying their first 3 holes. Every shot counted in this one, with the winning margin being only 0.2 of a shot.
The Women’s State Final was played the following day and Goulburn Golf Club had a blinder, edging out stiff competition from many other teams. PGA Professional Jon O’Sullivan was very proud of how his team performed, and he thought it definitely helped that they had so much fun on the golf course.
In the events held at the nation’s capital, Murrumbidgee blew away the rest of the field, walking away victors by 3.5 strokes. PGA Professional Matt Docking said it was ‘one of those days’ where every putt seemed to drop. The afternoon field saw a closer contest with Young Golf Club coming out on top. They did the best at adjusting to the wet conditions, and after the round celebrated as hard as they played. A Hole in 1 was registered by Brent Chalker from Queanbeyan Golf Club at Federal. A beautifully executed shot which added another highlight to an eventful day.
Queensland’s finals have seen Borneo Barracks win despite their course being closed due to security alert. Palm Meadows won at Ocean Shores after hosting a Regional Final themselves a week earlier.
Mt Barker hosted the first SA Women’s State Final and Barossa Valley became first ladies team since 2007 to qualify through to the Champs for SA. Professional, Ian Devlin played brilliantly holing out his second shot on a par 4 and later continued the brilliant play with an eagle, birdie, eagle run.
Tasmania was excited to be hosting its own Women’s State Final at Riverside. St Helens played well to win by just .1 of a shot. Expect them to impress at the Championship final.
In Victoria, Ballarat Golf Club secured a rare double with both their Women’s and Mixed teams winning their finals at Kooringal and Eynesbury and progressing to the Sunshine Coast. Timboon Golf Club won the PM final at Eynesbury Golf Course, assisted by Tony Collier. It was then Sandhurst’s turn to host a double header. A hole in one from Peninsula Kingswood’s Andrew Reidy was enough to get his team into second place behind Safety Beach. In the afternoon Pakenham Golf Club held off their competitors by just .1 of a shot. Only .7 of a shot separated the first five teams in an amazingly close result.
As we enter the final weeks of the Regional Finals, teams will be trying their hardest to qualify for an amazing experience at the 2014 Championship Final on Queensland’s naturally refreshing Sunshine Coast.