THE Jamberoo C Pennant team had a great 6 to 1 win to be joint leaders of their division after the fourth round while the White Horse Cup team also had a good win over Russell Vale at Nowra on Sunday.

The B Pennant team unfortunately had their first loss of the season but can still bounce back and make the final.

Golf Report- Jamberoo C Pennant 2012 – Round 4 vs Moss Vale at Jamberoo

After the enforced rest week with the bye last weekend, it was interesting to see if we could recapture the winning ways of our last match. It is a great advantage to play at home and so it proved to be with our team recording a terrific 6-1 win.

Excellent wins were recorded by Warren Joannou (3&1), Tony McRae (1 up), Steve Oppert (5&3), Tom Zimmerman (4&3), Wayne Griffiths (2&1) and Chris Leckey (6&4). The only loss was recorded by the skipper at the 18th after leading all the way.

Warren, looking resplendent in his Jamberoo-coloured golf shoes and matching golf bag, brought out his newest fashion accessory, red and green coloured sun screen. Playing at number one, his opponent was out-styled, and out played. A Solid win.

Tony, playing at number two, was challenged all the way by his nuggety opponent, securing a win with a fantastic chip onto the 18th green from the bridge across the creek.

Steve, at number three, was playing like a well-tuned engine. He kept churning out pars in an excellent display. He finished his match at the long par 3 15th, with an excellent shot to 2 metres. This allowed a comfortable 2 putt for victory.

Tom, at number 5, again played a solid round of golf, clearly showing the benefits of his week long spa at Port Kembla. Tom is in fine form and recorded a good win.

Wayne, at number 6, was also challenged by his Moss Vale opponent in a very good match. The large gallery was on edge as Wayne secured victory on the 17th green.

Chris Leckey, leading the way at number 7, got the team off to a good start with another fantastic display. With the Saint having a rest today, he was not challenged in the hat-wear department and eased to a big win.

As for the only loser, the less said the better. Clearly I need to go visit Chris Leckey at his Optometry shop to check my eyesight. At one stage on the 10th hole I thought a social player must have hit my ball leaving me with his Hot Dot. After conceding the hole I went over to pick up the offending ball with every intention to throw it in the river. I was very surprised to find that it was actually my Srixon! Oops!  Despite this there is nobody to blame except myself. Five missed putts from less than 2/3 of a metre will always lead to a loss.

Our next game is against joint-leaders The Grange at Kiama, starting at 7.45 am

Until then, may all your drives be down wind!

Dave Ransom (Captain)

White Horse Cup vs Russell Vale at Nowra

THE Jamberoo White Horse Cup team had a good win over Russell Vale at Nowra 4 to 3.

Winners were Brian O’Hare 8/7, Errol Stubbs 5/4, Steve Jackson 4/3, and Peter Francis 3/2.

Inspirational captain Tony Rodriguez was one of the losers but he did point out after his 3/2 loss that his defeat was actually one of the most courageous performances in the history of sport, perhaps even in all of human endeavour.

This was due to the fact that he had played his entire match with injuries more or less equating to a broken leg. He heroically led for much of his match before eventually succumbing to his debilitating condition.

“I should have had it amputated before I started,” the valiant Rodriguez said.

Boyd Sylvester was disappointed to lose a close one 1 Down while Darryl Campbell lost 5/4.

Huge crowds are expected when the White Horse Cup team takes on Moss Vale at home this Sunday, March 4.

B PENNANTS vs  ST GEORGES BASIN

Golden Run comes to an end. On Sunday 26 Feb, the Jamberoo B Pennant Team suffered their first loss of the season. After three 5 / 2 wins they were defeated by St Georges Basin at home 6 / 1.

All of the matches except Adrian Bell’s started off with a sudden dip then were pulled back to square or 1 down mid match. The back nine at the Basin took its toll with the Jamberoo team finding it difficult to get ahead. One match finished at the 16th and three at the 17th holes with Ray Orr maintaining his unbeaten form by pulling off a win at the 18th after being 4 down after 8 holes. Adrian Bell got to 2 up early but gradually fell behind.

Results were Jarryd Buckley lost 3/2, Adrian Bell lost 2/1, Tom Persson lost 2/1, Matt Bell lost 5/4, Jaryd Byers lost 2/1, Ray Orr won 1 up and Scott Hainsworth lost 4/3.

A disappointing result which puts Jamberoo 1 point behind St Georges Basin in the race for the final. It is still mathematically possible to make the final providing we win the final round against Wollongong at The Grange on 4 March. All the best next week.

Lance Fredericks

B PENNANTS – NOWRA SUNDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2012

Jamberoo B Pennant Team had another well earned victory over Russell Vale at Nowra on Sunday 19th.

The matches generally started off tightly as the players got used to Nowra’s narrow fairways and tall trees. As the morning progressed Jamberoo started to establish small leads over their opposition which, in most cases, led to good winning margins. The exception was Scott Hainsworth playing at No. 7 who got to a 3 hole lead only to finish 2 Down. Pete Munro at No. 4 see-sawed through his match winning and losing holes. At one point 3 Down but ending his match at the 18th with a chance to win the hole and square the match, but halving the hole to finish 1 Down.

The rest of the matches were won by Jamberoo topped off by No. 1, Jarryd Buckley winning his first match for the 2012 season 4/3. The other winning results were Adrian Bell 3/2, Tom Persson 4/3, Ray Orr 6/5 and Matt Bell 3/1. A great result, 5/2 again and we look forward to a difficult one next Sunday playing the other undefeated team, St Georges Basin, on their home course. We need to win or square this round to make the final.

Lance Fredericks

(Reports not yet available from C Pennant and White Horse Cup)

Jamberoo’s three pennant teams all had good wins on the weekend (Sunday 12th February) with B Pennants having their second straight win and the C Pennant and White Horse Cup teams securing their first victories in their second outings for the year.

B PENNANTS V THE GRANGE at JAMBEROO

The B Pennant Team again performed well with a 5 / 2 win over The Grange at Jamberoo on Sunday 12 Feb. With a beautiful fine morning after all the rain of the past week the conditions were perfect except for some soft going.

Scott Hainsworth led off at No 7, leading at times through the match but finishing all square. Matt Bell, after losing 1.2 shots on Saturday with 46 stableford points, carried his good form into Sunday by being 8 up after 9 holes and winning shortly after 8 / 7. Ray Orr and Pete Munro continued on from last week winning 5 / 4 and 6 / 4 respectively. Our only loss was by Tom Persson who was defeated 1 up after a close fight throughout the whole game. Adrian Bell continued his success with a convincing 3 / 2 win. The final match with Jarryd Buckley ended all square after Jarryd had been 3 down early in the back nine and his opponent sinking a great putt to square the 18th hole.

Well done team, next week at Nowra we take on Russell Vale.

Lance Fredericks

C PENNANT ROUND 2 v KIAMA AT LINKS SHELL COVE

I am pleased to report that we are off and running with a good win over Kiama 5.5 to 1.5. What’s more, the “Town and Country Cup” is retained!

Congratulations to Tony McRae, Warren Joannou, Tom Zimmerman, Wayne Griffiths, and Col Booth for excellent wins. Chris Leckey managed to square his match, and commiserations to Steve Oppert.

Tony was in scintillating form at #1 accounting for his opponent 6/5. I believe ‘Lefty’ scored several birdies out there never allowing his opponent into the match. Tony is very hard to beat when he is this form. Well played.

Warren, playing his first game of the season, looked to be in trouble early losing the first three holes. This only made him more determined and he surged to close out his opponent 3/2, including a terrific birdie on the 18th at the difficult Links course (we played the back-nine first). Well played ‘Rabbit’. I am sure those golf shoes in Jamberoo colours contributed significantly to the win.

Steve was up against an in-form Kiama opponent and lost 4/3. ‘T1’played some impressive golf, including several sand saves, but his opponent played mistake free golf after establishing an early lead. Commiserations this time, but I am sure there are several winning matches for you soon.

It was reported that Tom had spent a week at a health spa in Port Macquarie last time. In fact it should have read a week in a pool at Port Kembla! Tom got his growl back this week playing a brilliant round, to win convincingly 6/5. As the saying goes, you can’t keep a good ‘cougar’ down for long. A great win Tom.

Chris Leckey trailed for much of his match and was 2 down with 5 to play. The ‘hat’ never gives up, and showing wonderful resilience, managing to win the last hole to square his match. With the challenge put out by Col Booth in the sensible head-wear department, Chris has upgraded to a nice straw hat with a colourful band, setting a new standard for usurpers to the moniker, the Hat.

Wayne Griffiths played an excellent game of golf, not letting his opponent into the match, and closed out a win 4/2. ‘Griffo’was determined not to let the win slide away this time and powered to his inaugural pennant win. I think this will be the first of many.

Col Booth, started slowly, and was 3 down early in his match. The ‘saint’ needed something special to change the momentum and I was pleased to be present when he got it ‘up-and-down’ from an impossible position on the 15th. His opponent was clearly rattled and 3-putted, giving the desired swing. Col then took charge of the match scoring a birdie on the difficult 18th and another on the equally difficult 8th to close out the win 3/1. Another great win.

C Pennant has a bye next week, and then it is a home game against Moss Vale the following week. Hit off is 9 am, so I am expecting another large crowd to be in attendance.

Until then, may all your drives be straight and all your putts go in.

Dave Ransom (aka, 7/11 or T2)

WHITE HORSE CUP V NOWRA AT SUSSEX INLET

Who would have thought one player could make so much difference!

After their first round drubbing the Cuppers bounced back to record a good win against Nowra at Sussex Inlet 4/3.

Captain Tony Rodriguez admitted to being surprised by the win but after much thought hit upon the secret.

“It’s because the hairy little gnome isn’t here,” Rodriguez opined.

Those present believed he was referring to valued but absent team member Darryl Clampett, who the captain elaborated “could be a precocious talent but was an unsettling influence on other team members.” Or words something like that.

Rodriguez always seems a little off-kilter at Sussex Inlet, sniffing the breeze and looking longingly over the fence into the alpaca farm paddocks next to the course.

No doubt inspired by memories of carefree teenage years roaming the Bolivian countryside looking for love, Rodriguez won his match 1UP.

The other much lauded winners were Neville Hutchins 4/3, Mick Carr 1UP and Boyd Sylvester 2/1.

The harangued, threatened and harassed non-winners were Peter Francis down 4/3, Brian O’Hare 2DOWN and Steve Jackson down 3/2.

The 2012 Illawarra District pennants season is underway with Jamberoo Golf Club entering three teams this year.

In their first matches on the Sunday 5th February the B Pennant squad had a great win over Nowra at Wollongong, the C Pennant team battled gamely but lost to The Links Shell Cove at Moss Vale while the White Horse Cup troupe looked really, really good in their new shirts and turned up really, really early to face defending premiers Sussex Inlet at Russell Vale.

Read the full reports below:

B PENNANTS – WOLLONGONG – SUNDAY 5 FEBRUARY

The 2012 season started with a bang with Jamberoo B Pennant team defeating Nowra 5 wins to 2 at Wollongong.

Big wins were had by Adrian Bell 2 & 1, Tom Persson 7 & 5, Pete Munro 6 & 5, Ray Orr 4 & 3 and Scott Hainsworth 5 & 4. Losing matches were at both ends of the field with Jarryd Buckley and Matt Bell both going down on the last hole. Congratulations to Ray and Scott for their first games in the B’s.

We don’t yet know Nowra’s strength relative to the other teams in our Division but a god win is a good start.  Next week (12 Feb) is a home game against The Grange starting at 7:45am.

Lance Fredericks

C PENNANTS – MOSS VALE – SUNDAY 5 FEBRUARY

Round 1 vs Links Shell Cove at Moss Vale Golf Club

The C Pennant team, looking resplendent in their new representative shirts, arrived full of anticipation, excited about the new season.  New players Wayne Griffiths and Chris Goodwin clearly showing eagerness to be “at ‘em”, while old timers Dave Ransom and Col Booth glad to be back playing. Chris Leckey, Tony McRae, and Tom Zimmerman also ready to again represent their club to the best of their abilities.

The Moss Vale course was in excellent condition despite the recent rain and so after winning the toss Col Booth  stepped up to the tee at #7. Col would be first to agree that it was a less than auspicious start with him laying up short of the water hazard 50 m from the tee! His opponent then proceeded to hit the first of many 300 metre drives straight down the middle. The Saint battled bravely but just could not keep up with his big-hitting opponent eventually losing 4/2.

It was a different story for Wayne Griffiths at #6. His match was a very evenly fought contest with only one hole separating them the entire game. Griffo seemed to have it won when he hit it on the back of 18 in regulation leading 1 up. Unfortunately the green was very slow from here (unlike all the others) and several putts later the match finished all square. An excellent first up performance Wayne.

A tremendous effort by Chris Goodwin at #5 saw him win his inaugural pennant match 1 up.  The Worrigee Kid played an intelligent game, keeping the ball in play and using his tight short game to great effect. This included a 35m bomb on the long par 3, 16th for a birdie. Well done Chris.

The ever reliable Chris Leckey again showed his class with an excellent first up win at # 4. The Hat used his power-fade and superb chipping and putting to win his game 3/2 in the day’s best performance. I can see Chris having a great season.

Tom Zimmerman at #3, fresh from a week at a health spa in Port Macquarie, was looking good on the first tee with a healthy tan and even more healthy swing. Unfortunately his opponent was hot, giving the Cougar a beating 5/3. Despite this score I noticed that Tom was actually playing excellent golf and feel he will again re-capture his normal growl.

#2 saw Dave Ransom tee it off. I managed to get to the lead after 10 holes and should have closed out the match being ahead by 2 holes. Unfortunately my opponent had different ideas and proceeded to play some excellent golf to win 2/1.

The in-form Tony McRae, playing his first game at #1, was playing a red hot opponent. Tony stayed with him playing fantastic golf himself and managed to get it to square early on the back nine. The game see-sawed from here and it went down to the last putt on 18 for him to lose 1 down. Well played Tony.

Unfortunately, we have lost our first match 4.5 to 2.5.

We look forward to our next match against Kiama at the Links Shell Cove next Sunday defending the Town and Country Cup.

Until then good golfing and cheers from Dave R.

Dave Ransom

WHITE HORSE CUP – RUSSELL VALE

As we foreshadowed in the introduction, the Jamberoo White Horse Cup troupe looked really, really good in their new representative shirts and turned up really, really early to face defending premiers Sussex Inlet at Russell Vale.

Team captain Tony Rodriguez was once again a magnificent inspiration on and off the course, taking the rag-tag mob the selectors had foisted upon him and presenting them at the first tee as a finely drilled, impeccably outfitted golfing machine.

Leaving no element of preparation to chance, Rodriguez had first rung the Russell Vale pro shop on Wednesday to double check the tee-off times (You just can’t trust those official schedules they hand out.)

He was told 8am so when team members dutifully turned up bright and early at 7.30 am they were delighted to learn that because of some incorrect advice from the pro shop they had nearly two hours to practice their putting and chipping before the actual tee-off. The extra time  came in especially handy for the captain, giving him the chance to return home to retrieve the representative shirts he had left on the dining room table.

Unfortunately, most of team – excluding the captain – seems to have put in most of their best work on the practice green. For some of the older members, by the time they got to hit off after 9.30 they had been awake for so long it was nearly time for their afternoon naps.

Not the captain though, who took the opportunity of his return home to have a leisurely brewed coffee, a gourmet breakfast, and who the hell knows what other Sunday morning marital delights. And to work on his rousing  (two word) pre-tournament motivational lecture, he claimed.

As for the game, team members got a very nice view of the Pacific Ocean from the very hilly Russell Vale course as they lost 6 ½ to ½ to the 2011 White Horse Cup champions.

And who was the only player to at least finish square – the well satiated Captain Rodriguez of course. Go team!

THE Jamberoo White Horse Cup team ended their season with a 6 and 1 drubbing of The Grange at Bowral.

The resounding victory saw them lifted to finish in third place in the final IDGA points table behind Sussex Inlet and Port Kembla.

In a day when the worst result was a square, Captain Tony Rodriguez won 5&4, Darryl Campbell finished even, Peter Francis won 4&3, Errol Stubbs was square, Brian O’Hare won 2 & 1, Brad Jackson won 3 &1 and Steve Jackson annihilated his opponent 8 & 7.

Rookie captain Rodriguez grew in stature as the season progress and is already planning his assault on the Cup next year.

Rodriquez is certain that with a few subtle changes he can drag his team kicking and screaming to the winner’s podium in 2012.

There are even rumours he will be approached by The Presidents Cup International Team Captain Greg Norman to take on the role of assistant captain in Melbourne this November.

“I haven’t received any phone calls,” was all the wily Rodriquez would say at the weekend.