Pennant Corner

Please see the reports for Women’s, Seniors, Youth and Men below.

Upcoming Pennant rounds

• Friday Women’s Pennant – 28th March: Vs Cheltenham at Medway GC – 8.00 am

• Women’s Pennant – 30th March: Vs Patterson River at Rosanna GC – 8.00 am

• Senior Men’s YC Pennant – 28th March: Vs The Heritage at Kew GC – 12 noon

• Youth Pennant – 30th March: Vs Kingston Heath at Eastwood GC – 8.20 am

• Men’s Pennant – 30th March: Vs Northern at Eastwood GC – 11.15 am

Spectators are always welcome to come and support the teams.

Friday Women’s Pennant

Please see the Friday Women’s Team Managers report below from Di Chapman.

Friday Pennant March 21

The Friday Pennant team once again set off in the dark, this week venturing south to Cheltenham. The team were confronted with a 9 hole course – played twice off different tees which proved challenging. The opposition Kooringal, who had come down from Div 3 were always going to be tough to beat.

Once again, we had 3 debutantes – Caroline Dorrat, Brenda Carey and Anne Corboy – welcome to GA Pennant! We also had a debutant caddy in Vanessa Cariss who has played more than 100 Pennant matches. She now realises the stresses that a player can inflict on her caddy together with the highs of great shots and putts.

Sue Poole played strongly all day finishing her match square. On the 18th, a par 3, her drive ended up unplayable behind a tree. After taking a penalty, she put a good shot onto the green and 1 putted to halve the hole and match.

Jane Rodgerson was not given a look in by a strong opponent who had a day out winning 6/5 & Lisa Cochrane had a close battle all day, emerging the winner 2up.

Carline Dorrat, playing with borrowed clubs after hers were recently stolen, had a tough initiation to pennant going down 4/3. It was great see the very experienced pennant player, Prue Graf caddying for Caroline.

Megan Keith had another close match, finally succumbing on the 17th to go down 2/1. Brenda Carey had a great start to her pennant career. A formidable combination with the experience of Fi Bunting on her bag. A strong game resulting in a 3/1 win after a fantastic par on the 17th. Brenda parred all of the Par 3s, including the 13th, when they were looking in the trees left for her ball only to find it on the green – player and caddy still have no idea how it got there!

Anne Corboy had an eventful match with many bunkers and balls hitting trees and, luckily, ending up on fairways, finally going down 3/2.

Our new players will learn so much from every match they play. Many thanks to experienced caddies, especially pennant players Fi Bunting, Anne Minter, Vanessa Cariss and Justine Grover who also play or caddy on Sundays. 

It was great to have Barb Pinchbeck and Robyn Judd out on the course supporting our team and helping team manager, Di with score updates. we would love to see more spectators in the coming weeks to support our players.

Competition results can be found here.

Sunday Women’s Pennant

Please see the Sunday Women’s Team Managers report below from Barb Pinchbeck.

Sunday Pennant March 23

In contrast to last Sunday, we were greeted by a beautiful day at Patterson River Golf Club. The course was in great condition and belief was high. We matched up well in handicap but unfortunately were not able to get the win we were after. The Box Hill team were tenacious and with a couple of talented 13 year olds were too strong for us winning 5/2.

Deb Guilmartin played an excellent match from tee to green with plenty of birdie and par opportunities. A close contest all day and fittingly it finished with a square result.

Vanessa fought hard all day (after submitting her working with children license) but her opponent got a few breaks at important times winning 1up.

Fi Bunting (also with working with children check) had her best game for some time, but 9 pars were not enough going down 4/2. Lucy Dawson continued her winning ways with a crowd pleasing long putt on 18 to win her match 2up.

Anne Minter battled with a very steady opponent going down 3/2. Annelie started strongly on front 9 but her opponent was too consistent winning 5/3.

Meg Toose fought to halve her match. A hole to remind us never to give up – Hole 2, drove right, chipped out sideways but into water, took a penalty. hit onto green and in houdini fashion halved the hole!

Thanks to all our caddies and Bev and Anne for coming down to support us, greatly appreciated. Onward and upward to take on Patt River at Rosanna next week.

Competition results can be found here.

Senior Men’s Pennant

Please see the Senior Teams Captain’s report below from PD Downey.

Rosanna played host to the moving round last Friday, with critical contests between Kew and The Heritage and Green Acres and Heidelberg, shaping how the final may look in 2025. Kew and Heritage played out a tie, which eliminated Kew from the finals race this year. So, it was down to Green Acres and Heidelberg to see who would stay alive in this most compelling season.

With Bryan Harper and Paul Thaw winning easily 6&5 it was down to the 4BALL in Steve Pryor and yours truly to get the 3rd contest on the board, and so we did winning 3&2. 3 in the bag – 2 more required. All other contests were square, and the match hung in the balance yet again. George Zhang provided the heroics with a sensational birdie on the 17th to win 2&1. 4 in the bag – 1 more required. Graham Harris (1 down), Gary Seymour (sq), Travis Cox (sq), and Rob Mallard (1 up), all stood on 18 with the knowledge that we had to get one more win to ensure our season stayed alive.

It must be the lure of finishing as close to the bar as possible that drives this squad to play great pressure golf under the microscope with an audience upwards of 50 watching and analysing each shot. Our last hole was the tough uphill Par 5 with water hazards hugging the RHS of the fairway all the way to the green and a fairway that also slopes severely towards the red stakes. Rise to the challenge we did with Gary & Travis securing sensational halves and RM winning the hole with nerves of steel. This saw a 6-3 win to Green Acres which sees us in equal first on the ladder with The Heritage, whom we play next week in a winner takes all contest.

There are 3 teams vying for 2 spots and the contests look like this:

· The Heritage V Green Acres – both teams on 5 points

· Rosanna V Yering Meadows – Rosanna on 4.5 points

Scenarios as follows:

1. We win and we are in our 5th final in as many years

2. We lose and we need Rosanna to lose to play in the final

3. We halve and we need Rosanna to lose

Now, it is unlikely Rosanna will lose to Yering, and so for the 3rd week in a row, we need to win to keep our season alive. The good news is we have a strong squad from which to choose from this week. Our depth has been tested the last few weeks, and I am so proud of those guys who stepped in to win against all odds. Selection at this time of the year is always tough for Ernie and I but as always, we both agree 100% with our selections and have no doubt the following 10 Green Acres members will draw on all of their experience to get a much needed 5 wins.

1. John Vidovic

2. George Zhang

3. Paul Thaw

4. Bryan Harper

5. Rob Mallard

6. Travis Cox

7. Graeme Harris

8. Brett Ryan

9. Rodney Andersen

10. David Simpson

There are some quality players who have missed selection this week in Mike Wood, Gary Seymour, Steve Pryor and Cam MacSween. Without these blokes the 10 who are playing this Friday would not find themselves in a position to get us into the final. It is not lost on Ernie or I how lucky we are to be in this position.

It was great to see so many members at Rosanna supporting the team. The 17th and 18th fairways had a tournament feel about them and it was a great buzz to be a part of it. We play at Kew this Friday and tee off is at high noon. See you all there for what will be an absorbing contest against The Heritage.

Competition results can be found here.

Capt Pd

Youth Pennant

Please see the Youths Team Manager report below from Paul Reid.

Youth pennant was at Heildberg GC this week and we got to play on a really well prepared course with very fast greens. After the morning dew burnt off, we had a great day competing against Kooringal GC, who are the ladder leaders. 

We had Ben Lewis debut for the team, and he got off to an early lead and maintained a solid level of play throughout the day to get a very comfortable 4 and 3 win. Well done Ben. 

In our 4th slot, Sam Reid came up against a very strong competitor, who played extremely well and gave Sam little opportunity to get back into the match. Kooringal came away with a very convincing win 8 and 7. 

Will MacIssac had a strong battle on the front nine with several lead changes against his opponent, and it wasn’t until the back nine that his opponent got on top to have a solid 6 and 4 win. 

Up next for us was Paddy Rath, who had a great game today. He played solid throughout the early stages to have a solid lead coming into the later stages of the match. To his opponent’s credit, his competitor fought hard to get it back to all square, coming up the last. Despite being out of position after his drive, Paddy got back into the hole and made a clutch put on the last to get out of jail and get a great win. It was a great example of never giving up when it looks like all hope is lost. 

In the last position was Toby Cook, who had a gripping match against Kooringal’s number 1 player. Both players had leads throughout the day with very good golf getting the job done. The match and overall team result came up the last where, unfortunately, Toby just got headed by a very strong hole by the Kooringal player who won it with a very strong hole.

Overall we had a great day, where we fought hard and played some very good golf in patches and look forward to taking this momentum into the remaining rounds. We have gained a lot of experience for our very young crew of juniors coming through and it’s a credit to the senior players and leaders who have taken these young guys under their wings. 

Competition results can be found here.

Men’s Pennant

Please see the Men’s Team Captain report below from Jack Allan.

On Sunday, the Men’s Pennant team played against Eastwood GC at Heidelberg. Battling fast greens and tricky pins, the day simply did not go our way. We went down 6-1 with 4 matches, finishing on the 18th hole. Nick Shortis was the only winner of the day.

Next week we play against Northern GC at Eastwood, a big bounce back is required from the men to keep our season alive. 

Competition results can be found here.