MURRAY DOWNS MEN
AN extremely successful Reciprocal Tournament was held at Murray Downs last weekend.
The event got under way on Friday, with a 4BBB Stableford competition and 110 players taking part.
The winning pair were regular visitors from Bunninyong in Adam McCann (15) and Brett Tolliday (5), scoring 45 points to take out the event ahead of Peter McGrath (12) from Bright and Daryl Colee (25) from Rosanna, who finished with 43 points, and in front of Damien Kilpatrick (13) and Derek Reid (32) from Horsham, by way of the countback system.
From Saturday’s competition, Patrick Bell (21) from Gisborne took home the first prize with 37 points, ahead of Graeme Puckle (9) from Hopetoun, also on 37 points. Dereck Reid (31) from Horsham, Barney Hearnden (11) from Woodend and Dione Heppell (9) of Murray Downs were the next best, all on 36 points.
Sunday’s individual competition was taken out by David Woods (10) from Clifton Springs with the weekend’s best score of 42 points, ahead of Michael Scott (14) from Mornington on 40 points. Brendan Smith (5) from Bendigo and Grant DeMamiel (14) from Ballarat were the next best with 39 points each.
In the major competition from the weekend, the 29th Reciprocal Tournament at Murray Downs, the winning reciprocal team came from Bunninyong.
It consisted of Adam McCann (14), Brett Tolliday (4), Phil Tolliday (6) and Scott Whiting (10), who won with scores of 100 and 105, for a final tally of 205.
They got over the line by the smallest of margins – one point – from a team from Gisborne in Grant DeMamiel (14), Vaughan Cashmore (12), Jamie Gordon (12) and Scott Donaldson (14), after they recorded scores of 96 and 108, for a total of 204.
In third position was Daniel Irwin (5), Rod Doak (8), Geoff Viney (1) and Brendon Smith (5) from Bendigo, with a final total of 199 points.
The members section was won by the team consisting of Chris Grant (15), Corey Frost (16), Jesse Day (8) and Gary Day (14) with scores of 100 and 105, for a total of 205 – finishing just ahead of Rob Merrett (22), Grant McNees (8), Geoff Frame (18) and Ken Gregory (8) on scores of 96 and 108, for a total of 204.
Finishing third were the overnight leaders Lisa Brady (26), Dione Heppell (9), Lois Carnie (19) and Shelley Wilkins (18), who also finished on 204 points (102 and 92).
The winning reciprocal team each received a two-night stay and play package from the Murray Downs Resort for themselves and their partners, while the Murray Downs member winners, each received a similar package to the Rich River Golf Club.
Overall, it was a very successful tournament, with many rave reports being received on the condition of the course and how the event was run.
The next major event on the Murray Downs calendar is the 2023 Seniors Tournament, which will be held on Monday, February 27 and Tuesday, February 28. At the time of writing these notes, over 200 entries have been received, with more coming in on a daily basis.
On the local scene, last Thursday the daily event was a Stableford competition, played over three divisions.
Division 1 was taken out by Ken Gregory (9) with 39 points from Jamie Gordon (13) of Woodend with 38 points. Gordon and a couple of his mates came to Murray Downs a few days early for a reconnaissance mission – prior to the Reciprocal Tournament – and it nearly paid off, as they finished only one point behind the winners.
The best in Division 2 and receiving the day’s major prize was Tony Ford (17) with 38 points, ahead of Tori Ficarra (22) on 36 points.
In Division 3, Chris Mahon (33) came out on top, ahead of Tony Wilson (28), with both players finishing on 33 points each.
Other players required at least 32 points to get a ball, while the nearest the pins were taken out by Ken Gregory on the second, Ray Power on the fifth, Darryl Domaille on the 11th and Chris Merritt on the 15th.
A small-ish field of golfers had a hit on Tuesday, with Dale Smith (15) finishing the best of them with 39 Stableford points, ahead of Murray Conn (28) on 37.
Mark Warren, with 34 points, Chris Mahon with 32 points and Ross Hastings with 31 points, each received a ball for their efforts – while Malcolm Talbot picked up the only nearest the pin on offer at the eleventh hole.
The WRDGA summer pennant competition started last Sunday, with all matches being played at the Rich River Golf Club.
Murray Downs took on Rich River Blue and won 4.2 to 2.5, with the other match between Rich River Green and Deniliquin finishing tied at 3.5 matches each.
This Sunday, all matches will be played at Deniliquin, teeing off from 10am, with Deniliquin hosting Barham and Murray Downs up against Rich River Green.
MURRAY DOWNS LADIES
THE fairways at Murray Downs Golf & Country Club are green and lush, showing the benefit of scarifying, summer rains and copious watering.
Suzanne McLellan (21) and Naomi Domaille (20) obviously enjoyed these conditions and the faster greens, both scoring three up with the former winning Division 1 on a countback. Di Atkin (33) two up and Jude Lonergan (29) one up were successful in Division 2. Julie Overall, one up and Sally Fearn and Kathy Parkinson, square, led the ball pool, while Claris Bourne, Marie Cruickshank, Kathy Parkinson and Lynne Lawry hit the most accurate shots to the par 3s.
The annual Challenge Cup between Murray Downs, Deniliquin, Rich River and Barham has started, with Murray Downs posting a draw for their first match against Rich River.
NORTHERN DISTRICT GOLF
THE first round of the Northern District Summer Pennant was played last Sunday.
Summer Pennant is the first event on the NDGA calendar and it is fantastic to see nine teams from seven clubs participating, including teams from Pyramid Hill, Kerang, Cohuna, Lalbert, Lake Boga, Nyah West and Balranald.
All assembled at the Kerang Golf Club on Sunday morning to compete in the 4BBB handicap match play event.
Thank you to Kerang for hosting this first round and presenting the course in great condition, so the competition was able to get off to an amazing start.
There were four matches played on Sunday, with Lalbert having the day off for the bye, with the results as follows: Kerang 2 d Balranald 2-1, Lakeside d Cohuna 2 2-1, Pyramid Hill d Kerang 1 2-1 and in the closest match – where all games were finished on the 18th hole – Nyah West d Cohuna 1 2-1.
LADDER
Kerang 2 – 8.8
Lakeside – 8.7
Pyramid Hill – 8.6
Lalbert – 8.57
Nyah West – 8.2
Kerang 1 – 1.5
Cohuna 2 – 1.4
Balranald – 1.2
Cohuna 1 – 1.1
On Sunday, Round 2 will be played at the Cohuna Golf Club. Assembly is at 9.30am, with Kerang 1 having the bye. The fixture for the day is Pyramid Hill v Kerang 2, Balranald v Cohuna 1, Nyah West v Cohuna 2 and Lakeside v Lalbert, with great golf assured.
