The moment has arrived, all practice is complete and the competitors are ready and rearing to go. Gentlemen hit your first tee shot!
Who will be the 2017 champions in each grade?
Will Steve Rippon be able to defend his title despite his gall bladder and sore knee? Many players are ready to step up and are ready if Steve falters. Mark Cassel leads the club A grade standings in the Genesis Golflink Cup and he is showing good form on the course. Jarrod Gehrmann, Scott Hainsworth and Tony Panecasio are also playing well and ready to fire so they are a big threat to Steve.
Crowd favourite Ray Orr seems well recovered from his injury and maybe is a chance in the big one? Tony Rodriguez is also in form as is Greg Seymour and they cannot be ruled out either. Big hitting John Paul and the sneaky long Anthony Smith can also put good rounds together so they are also a chance. Late word in is that Con Kiayias is also playing well and ready to perform, and of course the usually consistent Pat Paris must be considered as well.
Steve is the clear favourite to defend his title but anything can happen on the course.
In B and C Grades it will come down to who will put in that one brilliant round and hold it together in the other rounds. In B grade the best chances seem to be from the experienced trio of Chris Leckey, Daryl Campbell and Greg Rodgers but everybody has a good chance with the handicap range being from 14-19. Some strong opposition will be provided by Terry Murphy, Andrew Attard, Gary Harvey and Col Booth but I won’t be surprised to see an outsider take this title. Very hard to frame a market here.
The C grade is just as hard to find a winner with the range of handicaps 20 – 26. Ian Martens, Bill Little and Tim Condon appear to be the players to watch but expect much opposition from the others. Alvin Ray is always in contention at championship time and maybe it is his time this year? Warwick Drew will play well as will Don Thompson so they must be strong contenders. Steve Oppert is back in form and will make a strong challenge as will Ray Sheehan and Phil Gosling. Everybody is in with a good chance and it will be interesting to see who has been playing possum over the last few weeks.
D grade is always a closely contested event but I feel this year Geoff Boxsell may surprise. Having said that who could go passed Les Farkas, the defending champion? The straight hitting John Turner will also put in a good show and Keith Hales will also play well.
Whomever is to win their respective title remains opaque but what is transparent is that it will be a memorable event enjoyed by all the field.
Good luck to everyone. I’m only sorry I’m unable to compete this year. However I will be reminding the ‘D’ Grade champion on a weekly basis of the four contestants I knocked out earlier in the season to put you there 🙂