The WHC Green Team at Russell Vale last Sunday (less Mark and Matt). They remain undefeated and confident of a good semi-final showing.
Congratulations to all players that have represented Jamberoo Golf Club this year. Thanks especially to the team captains on performing a thankless job with skill, professionalism and innovation. Thanks also to our sponsor BoothCorp Investments for its generous support of our teams.
With the final preliminary round completed our club has 3 of its 4 teams involved in semi-finals on the 13th of March at Nowra Golf Club.
The C Pennant had to win their last match to qualify and did so winning 3-2 to finish equal first in their division. They take on Wollongong in their semi-final.
Both White Horse Cup teams have won their divisions and face off for a place in the final in what is a historic and significant day for the club.
The B Pennant did all they could to qualify, winning their last match by the required amount and having Moss Vale win their match. Unfortunately the Links lost to leave our in-form team 1 point short of qualifying.
B Pennant almost snatch a place in the semis
Jamberoo 4 defeated Wollongong 1 at Wollongong
John Paul won 4/3, Pat Paris won 6/5, Adrian Bell won 5/4, Jarrod Gehrmann lost 3/1, and Paul Hazeltine won 2/1.
It was a hot and windy day at Wollongong with smooth, fast greens. The course conditions were beautiful and we had the challenge of winning 4/1 or better against the home club, Wollongong. A gritty performance by our boys secured a great win. We then had to cross our fingers and hope the Links would get up and beat the Grange. Unfortunately for us the Grange got up 3-2, winning the last match on the last green, ending our season.
This was a great result and augers well for the future with the mixture of seasoned pennant players and new guys to B Pennants this year.
If only a couple of missed putts in our earlier matches had gone in we would have progressed to the semis. With only 1 loss from our 5 matches we can be proud of our season.
Well done boys, it was a remarkable season.
Paul Hazeltine
PS: Congratulations to Paul himself as he went through undefeated in his 5 matches in a stellar performance.
Injury scare as the WHC REDS suffer their first defeat
WHC REDS 2 lost to St George’s Basin 4 at St George’s Basin.
With the semi-final place already attained by the REDs, a tense battle developed between the REDs and the home team amongst the kangaroos at the Basin.
It was a marvelous day at the challenging St George’s Basin course. The greens were true and fast and the rough had been let grow to US Open depth in some places. The day started poorly with the skip locking his keys in his car boot, an omen of what was to follow perhaps?
As usual our team was off to a slow start and we trailed early in several of the matches. Brad Jackson lost the first 4 holes to be well behind. Brad soon made amends and made his customary back nine charge only to lose on the 17th green. Peter Francis continued his undefeated season accounting for his opponent 4/2. Steve Jackson trailed by 5 holes at the turn but promised that he would take it to 18. He almost did and only a missed putt on the 15th caused him to eventually lose 2/1. Andrew Ball played a brilliant round piercing the centre of each fairway with his drives before hitting excellent approach shots. He accounted for his opponent on the 12th with a 7/6 result. The usually reliable Ken Bradley was fazed by the tight lies around the greens despite chipping in twice. He lost 4/3.
This meant that it all came down to the last match. The news was not good as our number 1 had hurt his back on the front nine and was struggling to swing. Arthur Bosanquet is commended for his courage and dedication to the team in battling on and it came down to the last putt where Arthur’s opponent holed a 4 metre curling putt to square the hole and inflict Arthur’s first loss.
Our first defeat didn’t affect the outcome of the division where the REDs have progressed to next weekend’s semi-final at Nowra. Of concern is the injury to our number 1, Arthur. He is booked in for daily physiotherapy and will not be able to practice this week. He remains in serious doubt for the semi-final and at this moment is unlikely to play.
Go the Ready and Extremely Determined team.
Dave Ransom
WHC Greens win at Russell Vale
WHC Greens 4 defeated Wollongong 2 at Russell Vale.
Congratulations to the ‘cowpats’ on their victory today to win their division and progress to next weekend’s semi-final against the RED’s at Nowra. It will be a day to remember for the club with a Jamberoo team guaranteed a place in the final.
The Saint writes:
State against state, mate against mate:
Jamberoo Green [True Blues] v Jamberoo Reds [Country Farmers of Jamberoo]
The hand-picked Reds team, known better for their tea parties and scones, were beaten for the first time on Sunday and face the undefeated NSW Jamberoo True Blues.
The Blues were relentless in their pursuit of Wollongong who also had a hand-picked team, some of whose qualifications to play should come under the scrutiny of the WHC Eligibility Rules ethics committee, making the Blues more determined to beat them.
Outstanding performances from all players with GT (aka Phil Adams) setting the pace by driving the first hole and setting the scene and motivating the rest of the Blues team.
Changa (aka Shane Townsend) was the first to respond placing pressure on his opponent while Billy (aka Brian O’Hare) and Poppa (aka Larry Kent) maintained a strong tackle count. The forwards of Kev {aka Col, who uncharacteristically found himself in the front row}, and Reg {aka Scott Hainsworth} playing the local junior champion of Russell Vale, transferred on a record signing to Wollongong. The ink was still wet on the transfer papers as the Junior Russell Vale Champion had only played two games for his beloved Wollongong.
Again the odds appeared to be stacked against The BLUES but the outcome HAS BEEN CASED IN STONE.
A prediction from Kev Stargazer:
“State of Origin 13/3/2016: New South Wales wins WHC semi with 5-1 win in game AT NOWRA”
“The Hand-picked farmers of Jamberoo QLD Reds were beaten by the Jamberoo True Blue Cowpats who again displayed team spirit and determination to take the trophy back to the true Jamberoo Home.’’
Go the Blues.
C Booth
C Pennant win cut-throat match to progress
Jamberoo 3 defeated St George’s Basin 2 at Jamberoo
The winner progresses, the loser ends their season. That was the simple equation for the C Pennant team.
Congratulations on the win. After many near misses this could be their year.
Chris Leckey reports:
The mighty ‘Cs” have qualified for the finals for the second year running with a hard fought win.
The Basin had a strong team this year and were a formidable opponent. We won the toss and sent our inform strike force Wayne Griffiths and Tom Zimmermann (The Bucks) to put the pressure on and give us 2 wins early. This actually worked with 5/4 and 6/5 wins.
The problem was Chris and Boyd started the 10th 4 down!!…….we had no luck going our way!! Captain Chris was getting a little nervous when he caught our No.1 Tim walking past the 10th tee to find his match all square…..”This is what pennants is about mate, lift, we need you, please, etc., etc.” was said.
Tim, handled the request with ease closing out his match 3/2 to give the boys a chance to qualify for the final with a win next week v Wollongong in Nowra.
Chris eventually went down 3/2 after getting back to 1 down on the 14th. Boyd went down 6/5 to their 14 marker on a day his putter let him down.
The boys are confident and are ready to represent Jamberoo in the penultimate match of the year.
Chris Leckey