Jamberoo 4 defeated Worrigee Links 2

 

Report by Dave Ransom, WHC Captain

THE White Horse Cup has been played in the Illawarra since its inception in 1934. 2015 marks our first win in this the oldest competition run by the Illawarra District Golf Association. Some say a win equivalent to Adam Scott winning the Masters.

Congratulations go to the whole squad of nine who played the complete season with tenacity, passion and dedication, proud to represent their club.

The final, held at Wollongong Golf Club, was a very close affair and at the 16^th tee we trailed in 3 of the 6 matches so it was a very tense wait for the Jamberoo spectators.

Scott Hainsworth completed the season unbeaten at number 1, winning his match 5/4.

Mark Cassel fought his putter all day as well as his opponent and after 7 lip-outs lost on the 17^th green.

Col Booth at number three also completed the season unbeaten and routed his opponent 8/6.

Steve Jackson trailed early but fought back courageously to square his match at the 18^th.

Chris Goodwin played outstanding golf all day to easily account for his opponent 6/5.

Brian O’Hare trailed all day only to take the lead on the 17^th and eventually held on to square his match in a close struggle.

It was a proud and historic moment for Jamberoo golf as we held up the pennant in victory.

Congratulations to the team on a great season and a big thank you to Tony McRae and Lance Fredericks for their support and to Shane Townsend, who stood down for the day through illness, but still acted as caddy to Steve, giving the inspiration for Steve’s comeback and also allowing Chris to play and succeed in his match. Also thanks to our other squad member Larry Kent who played a valuable part in the team throughout the competition.

 

White Horse Cup Semi Final v’s Highlands at The Grange 22/03/2015

Jamberoo defeated Highlands 3.5 to 2.5.

Report by Dave Ransom

Results:

Scott Hainsworth all square

Mark Cassal won 1 up

Larry Kent lost 4/3

Steve Jackson won 4/3

Shane Townsend lost 2/1

Brian O’Hare won 4/2

THE White Horse Cup Team has qualified for the final. Sunday’s encounter could not have been closer, with the difference being a magnificent birdie on the last hole by Scott to square his match.

The team started well with five players having established a lead at half way. The Highlands players applied the pressure, and managed to claw their way back into the match with the score locked at two matches all with only Mark and
Scott left on the course. Mark, having to give his opponent 4 shots, finally took the lead after a great putt on the 16^th hole and a solid par on the 17^th.  Crow trouble on the 17^th saw Scott’s group pass, leaving Mark, the last player on the course, with a 1 up lead.

Meanwhile Scott had led all day only to surrender the lead after losing the 16^th and 17^th holes. His shot on the 165 metre, over water, par 3, 18^th found the centre of the green leaving a difficult 3 metre side-hill putt. To the cheers and relief of the Jamberoo crowd the putt, perfectly struck, never looked like missing.

This left Mark with the task of securing victory with a half on the last. The Highlands player was not able to secure a par and Mark tapped in for victory for his team.

Earlier Steve Jackson had staged a remarkable comeback after being 3 down early in his match. Steve then won 8 of the next 9 holes to easily win his match. Brian never seems to lose to anybody younger than himself and this proved to be true today. He led all the way to record a comfortable victory. Shane and Larry had their chances but determined play by their opponents saw them taste defeat.

Thanks to Col Booth and Chris Goodwin for their motivational speeches and support of their team-mates. The final is next Sunday commencing at 8.10 am against Worrigee Links at Wollongong Golf Club. I am sure all of the club wish them every success and to be the first White Horse Cup winning team at the club.

B’s and C’s bow out

Unfortunately, Jamberoo’s B and C Pennant squads bowed out for the year with losses in their semi-final matches.

The B’s went down to a very strong Kiama side 4.5 to 0.5 at Port Kembla. There were some very close tussles.

The C’s played before the WHC semi at the Grange but were devastated after losing against arch rivals Kiama.

C Pennant

Semi Final

Jamberoo 1.5 V Kiama 3.5

Report by Chris Leckey

This year’s charge has come to an end!

After finishing 1^st in Division 1 this year Jamberoo were drawn against our great rivals Kiama in the semi-final. A position in the final was at stake and also our annual Town vs Country Cup Challenge.

Unfortunately it was Kiama’s day as we went down 3.5/1.5.

All games were close and either finished on the 17^th or 18^th hole. Putting was the difference today.

It’s always difficult writing a losing report, but I must congratulate all eight team members who represented our club this year. After a poor pennants season last year we came to within 1 game of making the final.

We have a great bunch of very good golfers who enjoyed each other’s company and representing your club.

We were close, but 2016 will be our next goal.

Well done lads.

B Pennant

Semi-final results: Kiama 4.5  Jamberoo  0.5

Report By Adrian Bell

Unfortunately The B team was decisively beaten in their effort to gain a position in the final. However the score belies the closeness of some of the matches where several of the matches swung against Jamberoo in the last couple of holes.

A wet showery morning greeted us for our 8.20 match at Port Kembla. The Kiama team got off to a quick start in their matches and it became obvious why they had won their division. Some of the experienced members of the Jamberoo team remarked that the standard of golf was as high as they had ever seen. The Jamberoo team drew on their experience and hung in there waiting for an opening to come their way but the Kiama side were playing mistake free golf and presented the Jamberoo side with very few opportunities. However the B’s with their ‘never say die’ attitude chipped away at the Kiama lead and were still in with a chance of a team win on the back nine.  Unfortunately the bounce of the ball did not go Jamberoo’s way on crucial shots and Kiama were able to seal a berth in the final.

Congratulations go to all team members for the magnificent effort they made in reaching the semi-finals. The playing team was Adrian Bell, Paul Hazeltine, Tom Person, Patrick Paris, Pete Munro, Matt Bell, Tony Panecasio and Ray Orr. The matches were always played in a friendly but competitive spirit and all team members were excellent ambassadors for the club. Special thanks go to Ray Orr for his great work in managing the team.

ALL three Jamberoo Golf Club Pennant squads had success on the weekend with both C Pennant and the White Horse Cup squads now virtually assured of finals places.

C Pennant dished out a 5 – 0 drubbing to Wollongong at home at Royal Jamberoo and believe they will still top their division table even if they lose their final regular season match in two weeks.

The White Horse Cuppers had a rousing 5.5 – 0.5 win over Wollongong at Kiama to ensure topping their points table with one round still to go. The Cuppers will play in a semi final on March 22 at Port Kembla with a place in the final at Wollongong the following week at stake.

B Grade also had a good win on Sunday, toppling Russell Vale 3.5 to 1.5 at Nowra. B Grade now lie second in their division, just two points behind competition leaders The Grange and also have a good chance of progressing into the finals. (In B and C Pennants two teams progress from each division, in the WHC it is just one)

Full Reports below.

[Update 3/3/15: The B Pennant Report has now been added below]

 

C Pennant Report

Report by Chris Leckey

Round 4

Jamberoo 5 V Wollongong 0

The Superoo’s conquer at home.

The C’s continued their run this week with all players having fine wins.

Arthur Bosanquet 9/7

Tim Young 5/4

Peter Francis 4/3

Boyd Sylvester 5/3

Wayne Griffiths 3/1

The results look great but were well earned as Wollongong were formidable opponents.

Arthur’s game today was a true gem. His Eagle 2 on the 4th set the tone for a comprehensive win against their no.1. This is the 2nd Eagle Arthur has had for the team, last year he Eagled the 16th.

Tim’s South Coast practice rounds at Catalina paid off this week as his short game was way too good for his long hitting opponent.

After being 1 down early Peter rallied and by the 5th he had found his touch with the putter which gave him confidence to take control of his match to close it out for a fine win.

Boyd was 1 down after 4 and said “ he was his worst enemy” and was looking worried, but he certainly changed his fortunes on the back 9 with perfect golf from the 12th to take the match on the 15th.

Wayne was up against Wollongong’s form player and Griffo had a real challenge on his hands. The cream came to the top with Wayne producing a tremendous win in his 1st match this year.

Behind the scenes the support team of Anthony Smith, Stuart Potter, Steve Rippon and Bruce Hammond were tremendous hosts and the visiting teams were most impressed with our facilities.

White Horse Cup

Report by Dave Ransom

1/3/15 v Wollongong at Kiama

Jamberoo def Wollongong 5.5 to 0.5.

Scott Hainsworth won 3/2

Mark Cassal all square

Col Booth won 1up

Steve Jackson won 7/6

Shane Townsend won 1up

Brian O’Hare won 4/3

An exciting day at Kiama Golf club saw the White Horse Cup team secure a semi-final berth.

On the face of it, it looks like it was a very easy win. The truth is far different. Wollongong brought their ‘A’ game with them and really applied the pressure with all of our team trailing early. It speaks volumes of the quality of our players who fought back in each of the matches to overcome their worthy opponents.

Scott again played a superb round and after finding himself 2 down won 4 in a row to take a 2 hole advantage into half way. His excellent tee shots on the difficult Kiama par threes kept the pressure on and he won his match easily in the end.

Mark found himself 4 down at the turn and things were looking grim. Never to be outdone  a terrific back nine saw him take the lead on the 17^th but he was unfortunate on the 18^th where his purely hit second shot went a step to far leaving him with a difficult chip shot resulting in a tied match.

Col was involved in a tight struggle against his big-hitting Wollongong opponent but he didn’t deviate from his game plan of hitting his hybrid off the tee on the tight Kiama layout. The game see-sawed and it came down to the last where Col was able to get up and down to secure the win.

Steve was on fire. All of his drives seemed to rifle down the middle and with his solid short game he overwhelmed his opponent.

Shane seemed nervous early after his embarrassing late arrival last week. After settling down he started to play some great golf, justifying the skipper’s faith in him. Still his experienced opponent was playing some great golf himself and Shane trailed by 3 holes with 4 to play. A quick pep talk from Vice-captain Goodwin was enough to inspire him and he won the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th to snatch an outstanding victory.

Brian was back after his exploits last week at the Ladies Australian Open.  Before play he enquired “what are the tactics?” My answer to him was simple. You win your match and don’t worry about the others. Brian trailed early but was playing the better golf tee to green. Putting was hurting him and he trailed by 2 holes after 6. Brian found the remedy and started to apply the pressure and his opponent wilted with Brian fulfilling the captain’s request, winning his match easily in the end.

Thanks to Vice-captain Chris Goodwin for his support today. His little pep talks were very helpful.

With one round still to be played, the team has secured a semi-final berth and now will meet the winner of division 4 in the semi-finals at Port Kembla on 22^nd of March.

B Pennant

Report by Adrian Bell

Jamberoo vs Russell Vale at Nowra.

Jamberoo 3.5 Russell Vale 1.5

RESULTS:

Paul Hazeltine all square

Adrian Bell  win 6/5

Tom Persson loss 4/3

Pete Munro win 2/1

Ray Orr win 1 up

 A beautiful sunny morning greeted us at the picturesque Nowra course.

Ray Orr (our illustrious team manager) had been picked to play his first match of the season as he is well known as a Nowra specialist with some of his best rounds being played down south. Ray went to a 2 up lead early in the match and hung on for a solid 1 up win.

Pete Munro got off to a slow start as he found driving off the mats in the “caves” difficult. Pete steadily clawed back his opponent’s lead and on the 17th tee he found himself 1 up with 2 to play. Pete’s consistent play was too much for his opponent and he cracked under pressure with a three putt on the 17th green. This allowed Pete to chalk up a well earned 2 and 1 win.

Tom Persson returned to the team after being laid low with a swedish flu. His opponent showed no mercy and achieved a win with some deft chipping and putting. The captain had demoted himself to the number 2 position after a demoralising loss on his home track last week.

This placed Paul “The Big Easy” Hazeltine in the number 1 spot. A tough match had left Paul all square on the long par 3 17th. Paul hit a beautiful high drawing 3 wood to the heart of the green. His opponent made a clever up and down from a tricky lie which halved the hole with pars. The pressure was on with both players wanting to steal a win for their team. Teeing off on the 18th, Paul didn’t get his customary draw and his drive collected some trees on the right. A punch out of the trees left Paul 50 metres short of the green. His opponent was 1 metre short of the green for 2 shots and with the pin on the front of the green he was almost guaranteed a par. Paul hit a spinning wedge to 12 feet and confidently rammed the putt into the hole to finish all square in a quality match.

Congratulations to the team for their gritty performance in achieving an important win against Russell Vale. The Bs now have a bye and following that they will play Gerringong at St Georges Basin.