The Vic Open On Golf & ANDREWS: October/November 2018 Volume 59 - Number 5
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
@golf_vic October/November 2018
Volume 59 - Number 5
GolfVictoria PP 381 667 667 0038
DANIEL
ANDREWS:
On G o l f &
The Vi c O p e n
ARDOCH’S
10TH ANNUAL
Charity Golf Day Hosted by champion
Australian golfer
3RD The Metropolitan Golf Club
Brett Ogle
DEC Just one week after the World Cup of Golf!
Ardoch is a children’s education charity focused on improving
educational outcomes for children in disadvantaged
communities. Please join us and help Ardoch ensure that every
child’s potential is realised through full participation in education.
To register your interest please contact:
Amy Coote
p : 03 9537 2414
e: amy.coote@ardoch.org.au Event
www.ardoch.org.au Partner:
October/November 2018
Volume 59 – Number 5
Front cover: Premier Daniel Andrews
at Kingston Heath.
Photo: Daniel Pockett
contents
BOARD MEMBERS
Stephen Spargo AM (President)
Ross Anderson
Luci Bryce
Mark Dunstan
Dorothy Hisgrove
GOLF VICTORIA REPORTS Alison McCaig
Lucinda (Cindy) McLeish
05 A Great Time For Golf Peter Nash (Finance Director)
David Shilbury
34 VGCSA Honours CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Two Of Its Best Simon Brookhouse
35 GMV Report CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
David Greenhill
39 Noticeboard
GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY
RELATIONS MANAGER
Fiona Telford
TOURNAMENTS MARKETING &
COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
22 What A Finish! Greg Oakford
24 Country Week Brings
The State Together
FEATURES
is published by Golf Victoria
10 Golf Is My Game: MANAGING EDITORS
Dan’s Open Drive Mark Harding
Mob: 0417 105 659
13 The Unsung Genius of Goroke Email: mark@hardingmedia.com.au
16 Steffi Makes Short Karen Harding
Work Of Practice Mob: 0421 040 580
Email: karen@hardingmedia.com.au
18 Don’t Take Graeme
ADVERTISING:
For Granted Ray Kelsall
28 Team Thomas Teaches Mob: 0408 196 729
Email: rgkelsall@bigpond.com.au
The Town
SUBSCRIPTIONS
30 Fame For Brendan All enquiries to Anne Maddock
Tel: (03) 8545 6200
36 Game For Life: Marshalls Email: anne.maddock@golfvic.org.au
Serve The Game With Honour
GOLF VICTORIA
44 Unique Country Experiences Level 1, 47A Wangara Road,
Cheltenham VIC 3192
– Horses For Courses PO Box 2168 Hampton East VIC 3188
Tel: (03) 8545 6200
Fax: (03) 9543 9307
DEPARTMENTS Email: info@golfvic.org.au
No part of this issue may be
06 Clayton Tees Off reproduced, transmitted
or otherwise copied without
40 Fairway written permission from
Golf Victoria.
42 Twinklers
Production: Mustard Creative Media
43 Star On The Rise Tel: (03) 8459 5500
Printed by Printgraphics
48 Update Tel: (03) 9562 9600
49 Gallery
15-18 November 2018
The Lakes Golf Club
For more information visit emiratesaustralianopen.com.au
golf report
Simon Brookhouse
Chief Executive Officer
@golfvicsb
It’s Here!
One Golf Moves
The Game Forward
This edition of Golf Victoria Magazine is the working in harmony towards one goal, not five years and the fervour of the massive
first since Golf Victoria officially signed over many as has historically been the case.” crowds in France at the Ryder Cup show
to Golf Australia’s One Golf structure. interest is at unprecedented levels.
I can’t think of a more exciting time for the Over the next decade we At home, we are on the verge of a great
game because with the greater resources will see an enormous season with Victoria ready to stage the
and the economies of scale created by 2018 ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf at
the move, we are now geared to tackle change in the structure of Metropolitan, sandwiched by the Emirates
the biggest issues facing golf at grassroots Australian sport, I believe, Australian Open and the Australian PGA
level and upwards. Championship.
and it is great that golf can
From October 1, Victoria has joined be at the forefront of this And, of course, in February, our very
Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania special event, the $3 million Vic Open
and the Northern Territory in signing revolution, rather than has co-sanctioning with the European
service agreements with Golf Australia being slow to adapt and Tour and the Ladies European Tour after
that, put simply, will deliver an alignment the massive injection of funds by the
risk being left behind.
and co-ordination between all the bodies state government.
that hasn’t previously existed.
Golf NSW and Golf WA have so far not The revision of the rule book has seen a
So, what does it mean for golf club committed to One Golf but we are in simplified, common-sense approach to
members and other golfers? Essentially, ongoing discussions with them and are help speed the game and make it more
on a day-to-day level it will be business confident that when the new structure is appealing to newcomers daunted by
as usual. as successful as we believe it will be, they some of the complexities.
will also come on board so the One Golf Inclusion has become one of the key
This is the most critical benefits can work in those states too. aspects to the modern game with steps
taken at every level to ensure there are
thing for Australian golf – to The ultimate plan with One Golf operating
in every state in Australia is for golf to have no barriers to anyone who wants to
have really strong, aligned give golf a go.
the most efficient, streamlined and unified
decision-making processes governance structure in Australian sport. And Vision 2025, the project to generate
that share a vision so we “There are a number of sports considering
greater female participation in the game,
ensure we are working in is up and running and already showing
their structure and many are looking at
positive signs.
harmony towards one goal, what we are doing with great interest,”
Pitt said. It’s a great time to be involved in the sport.
not many as has historically
been the case. “Over the next decade we will see an
enormous change in the structure of
The difference will be in the efficiencies in Australian sport, I believe, and it is great
maximising revenue and providing a clear, that golf can be at the forefront of this
unified structure to enable the game to revolution, rather than being slow to
grow with a common goal. adapt and risk being left behind.”
As Golf Australia Chief Executive Stephen In the meantime, opportunities abound in
Pitt said: “This is the most critical thing all aspects of the game and there is
for Australian golf – to have really strong, so much in golf to be excited about.
aligned decision-making processes that At the professional level, the comeback of
share a vision so we ensure we are Tiger Woods to win his first tournament in
Golf Victoria 5
clayton tees off
by Mike Clayton
@MichaelClayto15
WHY THE
WORLD CUP
WORKS
The 2018 ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf
at Metropolitan from November 21-25 features
a rich and diverse field of 56 golfers from 28
countries. MIKE CLAYTON explains why golf fans
should relish the opportunity to watch.
Flying the flag:
Australian pair
Marc Leishman and
Cameron Smith have
the advantage of
home soil and will
start favourite to lift
the World Cup.
6 Golf Victoria
The World Cup is one of golf’s more It was sent to places like Caracas,
enduring events, one played through
several eras and incarnations, beginning its
life as the Canada Cup in Montreal 1953.
Acapulco, Puerto Rico, Athens, Manila
and Marbella but over time it fell from
favour because any tournament without
THE FORMAT
spectators becomes little more than an
It was a much different time and one The tournament is a 72-hole
exhibition with a good field. Davis Love
highlighting how much the nature of and Freddie Couples won four years in a strokeplay team event with
professional golf has changed since row in the 1990s, giving it credibility, but each team comprised of two
the great team of Thomson and Nagle the problem remained. Playing at Royal
represented Australia and won the Melbourne in 1988 in front of a big gallery
players. The first and third days
second edition in 1954. was more an anomaly than the norm. are four-ball (best ball) play and
The professional tour in Britain and The issue now is that a huge prize fund the second and final days are
Europe played from April to late ($US7 million) doesn’t guarantee the foursomes (alternate shot) play.
September so their best players were modern-day American equivalents to
more than happy to play anywhere in the Hogan and Snead, Palmer and Snead,
world in their winter. For some like Harry
Bradshaw, the great Portmarnock club pro
Nicklaus and Palmer or Woods and Duval,
who played together in Argentina in 2000
WEDNESDAY
and 1949 Open Championship runner-up,
it was a couple of weeks reprieve from
when they were the two best players in
the game.
21 NOVEMBER
selling balls to the members. There was Pro-Am day, course open
Matt Kuchar and Kyle Stanley, playing for
no Presidents Cup and the continental
the United States this time, are fantastic to public. Shotgun start:
players were excluded from the Ryder
Cup, making the World Cup a rare chance
players but no one could be anything 7:15 am and 12:15 pm
but disappointed Tiger Woods and
to play for your country.
Phil Mickelson are playing a pointless –
demeaning, even – exhibition for ten
THURSDAY 22
Who is coming to million dollars the same week. NOVEMBER
But rather than focussing on who Round 1 (Four-ball)
Metropolitan, likely isn’t playing, we should acknowledge
the professional world – in an era of Tee Times from 8:10am
one of the best unimagined prizemoney to generations
past – has changed. Otherwise we are
Gates Open 7am
handful of courses going to spend every summer moaning
about who isn’t coming down here to
FRIDAY
any of the field have play. The days of the Australian Open 23 NOVEMBER
being the ‘Fifth Major’ are long past.
Round 2 (Foursomes)
played all year, should Of course, it was a myth but it was
one we all wanted to believe.
Tee Times from 10:40am
be the celebration of Instead, who is coming to Metropolitan,
likely one of the best handful of courses
Gates Open 9am
the World Cup. any of the field have played all year,
should be the celebration of the
SATURDAY 24
For the best American players, the tour
World Cup.
NOVEMBER
The format, a mix of foursomes and
wound down after the PGA Championship
four-ball, is interesting at a time when
Round 3 (Four-ball)
in August, freeing up Arnold Palmer
and Jack Nicklaus to team up and win the game all over the world is awash Tee Times from 8:10am
four times. Later, Nicklaus teamed with with 72-hole tournaments. Gates Open 7am
both Lee Trevino and Johnny Miller, a Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith
presence guaranteeing the credibility of have some advantage perhaps because SUNDAY
the tournament and highlighting Nicklaus’ the course will be more familiar,
commitment to spreading word of the especially to Leishman who grew up 25 NOVEMBER
game all over the world. playing his Melbourne golf down the
road at Commonwealth.
Round 4 (Foursomes)
As we did with the Davis Cup, Australians
Tee Times from10:40AM
paid a lot more attention to the World Aside from how the course, now the
Cup when it was in Australia – or more longest championship course in the Gates Open 9am
specifically in Melbourne, since it’s never country, plays, the interest for those
been anywhere else. looking for more than just watching the Shuttle buses
Australians and the Americans (and who
The problem with the event was that its All trains arriving at Oakleigh Station
they happened to be paired with) could
admirable mission to spread the game will be met by a free bus service
focus on a number of players.
sent it to places where few had any operating in conjunction with Gate
interest in golf and one is left to wonder if Years ago the Irish Golf Union was Opening times and returning for one
it engendered any since. unsurprisingly enthused about the (1) hour after play is completed.
Golf Victoria 7
prospects of a young, curly-haired kid homemade swing where the club almost shots are much more difficult than the
from up near Royal Portrush. Peter Cowan, hits his right shoulder as he rips it down norm and it always takes some adjustment
one of the game’s best teachers, was from the top of his backswing. It’s always and imagination pitching and chipping off
employed to assess the home-grown fun to watch players who look like they all the short grass around the greens.
talent and, as everyone else could see, care a little bit less than the others,
The defenders, Danes Thorbjorn Olesen
he told the selectors Rory McIlroy was something freeing them up to play a
and Soren Kjeldsen, adapted quickly to
obviously a pretty special player. little more recklessly than is the norm.
Kingston Heath a couple of years ago and
“But”, said Cowan, “there is another kid Two recommendations are both playing whilst Kjeldsen is a short hitter, the length
here who is really good – that little fat kid for Belgium and it would be no surprise shouldn’t be a problem. That’s because
over there with the glasses." It was Shane if they had a chance to win on Sunday while the course is longer than it was
Lowry, who won the Irish Open as an afternoon. Thomas Pieters was fourth 40 years ago, it plays shorter because
amateur and has played well ever since. at Augusta last year and swings as well of the equipment and the extra roll on
Lowry teams with Paul Dunne, who led the and as powerfully as anyone on the tour. the fairways.
2015 Open at St Andrews after 54 holes At Kingston Heath in 2016, he drove his
Either way, it will be terrific fun watching
– as an amateur. foursomes partner Nicolas Colsaerts only
the World Cup and it’s time we accept the
80 metres from the opening green – a
Martin Kaymer is one we haven’t yet seen days of our big events attracting a couple
hole that used to be a par five from a tee
play in Australia and, in fairness, his form of the world’s best and hanging everything
20 paces closer to the green than the one
hasn’t been up to much lately. But anyone around them are long gone.
Pieters played from.
who has won The Players Championship,
Instead we have to make great events
the US PGA and the 2015 U.S Open by Thomas Detry, 25, is a year younger and
with interesting formats and continue to
eight shots can properly play golf. swings just as well. Metropolitan is a
play them on our best courses. With both
course unlike the vast majority of the
Stoic and quiet, the German is starkly the World Cup and the Vic Open to look
week-to-week courses on the professional
different to the flashy Thai, Kiradech forward to this summer, and with the
tour, no matter whether they are in
Aphibarnrat, who won at Lake Karrinyup Presidents Cup to come next year,
Europe, America, Japan or Asia. The greens
at the beginning of the year with a there is much to look forward to.
are harder and faster, greenside bunker
THE FORMAT, A MIX OF FOURSOMES AND
Thorbjorn Olesen and Soren Kjeldsen FOUR-BALL, IS INTERESTING AT A TIME
won the World Cup for Denmark at
Kingston Heath and are back to defend
WHEN THE GAME ALL OVER THE WORLD IS
at Metropolitan. AWASH WITH 72-HOLE TOURNAMENTS.
8 Golf Victoria
THE TEAMS
*Bold denotes
first World Cup of
Golf appearance
1 Australia Marc Leishman Cameron Smith 16 Spain Adrian Otaegui Jorge Campillo
2 England Tyrrell Hatton Ian Poulter 17 Ireland Shane Lowry Paul Dunne
3 United States Kyle Stanley Matt Kuchar Michael
18 France Alexander Levy
Lorenzo-Vera
Kiradech
4 Thailand Prom Meesawat 19 Austria Bernd Wiesberger Matthias Schwab
Aphibarnrat
5 South Africa Branden Grace Charl Schwartzel Shubhankar
20 India Anirban Lahiri
Sharma
6 Denmark Thorbjorn Olesen Soren Kjeldsen
21 Netherlands Joost Luiten Daan Huizing
7 Japan Satoshi Kodaira Hideto Tanihara
22 Finland Mikko Korhonen Mikko Ilonen
8 Korea Byeong Hun An Si Woo Kim
23 Mexico Abraham Ancer Roberto Diaz
9 China Haotong Li Ashun Wu
24 Germany Martin Kaymer Maximilian Kieffer
10 Canada Adam Hadwin Nick Taylor
25 Italy Andrea Pavan Renato Paratore
11 Scotland Russell Knox Martin Laird Benjamin
26 Zimbabwe Scott Vincent
Follett-Smith
12 Belgium Thomas Pieters Thomas Detry
Gavin Kyle
13 Sweden Alexander Bjork Joakim Lagergren 27 Malaysia Ben Leong
Green
14 New Zealand Ryan Fox Danny Lee 28 Wales Stuart Manley Bradley Dredge
15 Venezuela Jhonattan Vegas Joseph Naffah
WORLD CUP FACTS
• Denmark became the 16th nation to win the World Cup
when Thorbjorn Olesen and Soren Kjeldsen won by four
shots at Kingston Heath in 2016. Now they are back to
become the first pair to defend the title since Davis Love
III and Fred Couples won their fourth in a row in 1995.
• While the USA is clearly the most successful nation,
with 16 wins from the 58 previous World Cups, the last
11 tournaments have gone to 11 different nations.
• Australia and South Africa are next best with five wins.
Australia’s wins include 1954 Montreal and 1960 Melbourne
by Peter Thomson and Kel Nagle, one of only four pairs to win
the Cup more than once. Bruce Devlin and David Graham won
in Buenos Aires in 1970, Peter Fowler and Wayne Grady won
in Marbella in 1989 and Jason Day and Adam Scott gave the
Melbourne crowds something to cheer about in 2013.
• Metropolitan Golf Club has hosted seven Australian
Opens, five Australian PGAs, one Australian Masters, the
Australian Women’s Open and the WGC World Match Play
Championship. The couch fairways and bentgrass greens
for the 2001 Match Play were considered among the best
conditioned ever produced for a tournament in Australia.
• Three members of the winning 2018 Ryder Cup European
Team will make the trip to Australia – the English duo of
Tyrrell Hatton and Ian Poulter and Denmark’s Olesen.
Golf Victoria 9
golf is my game by Mark Harding
Daniel Andrews on the
tee for some short form
golf at Kingston Heath.
10 Golf VictoriaPhotography: Daniel Pockett
He began, as so many children do, with “It’s funny,” he said during one of those the politician and the golfer in Daniel
some hand-me-down clubs, playing until recent Sunday sessions. “When you are Andrews were really able to find common
dusk after school and from dawn on younger and you take the game far too ground. "There was a lot of talk after the
weekends at the country golf club which seriously, it is all about your game rather (Australian) Masters was no longer being
was literally next door to his house. than the game, and anything less than a played that there was a need to build a
perfect strike is the end of the world. Now, new tournament in Victoria,” Andrews said.
He attended a few junior clinics but his swing is “The thing is, we have already got a
I’ve only got to hit one good one to bring
largely self-made … it shows and he knows it. fantastic tournament, played in regional
me back. And there have been occasions
But practice makes permanent and that when I have not hit that one good one … Victoria, on a 36-hole complex down at
swing has been firmly grooved … well enough and I am still coming back.” 13th Beach.
to ensure that in busy adult life he can still “If you look at the crowds in recent years,
Andrews admits that with the pressures
play to a good standard – off ten at one of they are amazing and they get bigger and
of the job, the solitude of the Sunday
the finest courses in Australia. afternoon sessions has become even more bigger every year. They’re able to view golf
Trouble is, he’s so busy that he rarely gets important. “You do cherish a few moments down the line, walking behind the players,
to play a full round. But he loves the game of quiet time. It keeps you balanced, no ropes. And the unique format of that
so much that even a brief visit to the focussed on things. Just a couple of hours tournament … men and women, equal
practice fairway or a few holes in the late to clear your head is nice.” prizemoney, same course, same week.”
afternoon on Sunday is enough to retain his In that sense, he’s a perfect role model for For the politician, the success of the
enthusiasm and keep him coming back. Golf Victoria and Golf Australia’s push to tournament made greater government
encourage more short form golf, such as support a fairly straightforward decision.
He believes golf has positive benefits for the
Play 9, because he doesn’t have to play The result? An increase from $1.3 million
individuals who play it recreationally and,
an 18-hole round in competition to get in prizemoney in 2018 to $3 million in
at the elite level, for the regions which
his thrills from the game. prizemoney in 2019 until at least 2022.
conduct major tournaments. At 46, his
successful career has put him in a He’s also an advocate for the philosophy The $1.5 million for the men’s Open
position of extraordinary influence. of equality which is at the heart of the Vic enabled Golf Victoria to secure co-
Open. His hero in golf has always been sanctioning with the men’s European
Which has very much been to the
Ben Hogan because of his perfect swing, Tour to match the existing co-sanctioning
game’s advantage.
pure ball striking and the courage it took to with the Ladies European Tour, while the
That, in a nutshell is the Daniel Andrews return from his near fatal car accident. But $1.5 million for the women elevated their
story – how a time-poor golf tragic asked to nominate who among the current tournament to one of the big ones.
became the poster boy for the Vic Open. day players he likes to follow, the first name “The crowds are big and the prizemoney
When Daniel Andrews became Premier he mentions is outside the norm of Tiger, will match now,” said Andrews. “It is going
of Victoria in December 2014, he was Phil, Justin, Dustin, Jason or Adam. to be a great field and an absolutely
playing off a handicap of ten at Kingston “I watch a bit of women’s golf, which is fantastic week with, over time, a really big
Heath. In the mid-forty age range, it’s a television audience as well. That is great
more relative to our game,” he said. “I’ve
mark which usually requires fairly regular for tourism, great for the number of
been lucky enough to play a bit with Su
play to maintain. visitors coming down here.
Oh, a fantastic person and a really talented
player making her way on the LPGA.” “And it is using what you have got rather
Of course, that doesn’t happen. He reckons
he would be lucky to play a handful of than the inherent risk of trying to build
As such a keen and inclusive golfer, he had
competitive handicap rounds a year but something new from scratch.”
immediately embraced the decision of Golf
he’s been able to retain his swing and Victoria to play the men’s and women’s It’s not just the Vic Open that has Andrews
standard with late Sunday afternoon state Opens at the same time, on the same enthused though. “We have the World
sessions on the practice fairway and, course, on the Bellarine Peninsula at 13th Cup this year, the Presidents Cup next
depending on time, playing a solo three Beach. As a politician, he’d long been aware year, the Australian Open back in
or six hole loop on the Heath’s front nine. of the benefits a major sporting event can 2020 at Kingston Heath and in 2022
bring to the economy. at Victoria. There is every reason to be
To do that requires a deep-seated love of
highly optimistic.”
the game, and it’s undeniable that Daniel And it was after the decline and demise
Andrews has that. of the Australian Masters in 2015 that The World Cup in November will be held
without Andrews though – the weekend
clashes with the state election. But he
is enthused at the prospect of more
international coverage for Victoria …
and the Melbourne sandbelt.
“It’s one of the most internationally
significant collection of golf courses
anywhere. If you are a student of the game
and golf is a serious part of your life, and
you live in America or the UK and Europe,
then you have to come here. Your golfing
career is not complete unless you play
the sandbelt.”
Golf Victoria 11He knows what he is talking about, too, In 2001, he joined Keysborough and
having played extensively abroad although, played there for about ten years before Daniel Andrews …
he stresses, only when on holidays. joining Kingston Heath. He describes self-confessed
“We have a no golf policy when we are himself as a “scorer not a striker, if that golf tragic.
on business but when away privately, makes sense. I scrap it around a bit …
I have been lucky enough to play a not a bad short game. I spend a lot of
few special places.” time in bunkers and get up and down
Keeping up with the elite level of the game more often than not.”
is difficult but late at night, when everyone The swing that is “self-taught for better
else has gone to bed, Andrews will turn or worse” certainly gets him by but he
the television to the sport channels. would prefer his own children to get some
“I am a true golf tragic,” he said. “It is lessons. Eldest of three Noah, 16, has
probably the only TV I watch, to be already had some and according to Dad,
honest.” He was enthralled by the Open has a good grip and “rips it”. Grace, 14, is
Championship this year. “It was great to yet to discover the joys of the game but
see Tiger back to something approaching Joseph, 11, is showing some interest.
his best. Sitting up, whatever hour it was,
Andrews was chuffed during the recent
and he was in the lead going into the back
school holidays when he asked Noah
nine. It all kind of crumbled a bit there but,
I dunno, I wanted him to win. It would have what he was doing the next day and the
been one of the greatest comebacks, not answer came back that he was going to
just in golf but in sport.” hit some golf balls with his mates. It was
a sign that the love of the game has been
He’s such a golf nut that Andrews can’t passed down and that years of family fun
quite believe that there was a time when are ahead.
he didn’t play for ten years as he was making
his way in politics after leaving Wangaratta. “There are not too many games where
“Looking back, I don’t know how I managed fathers and sons and daughters and
that – it was a busy time.” But it has given grandparents can all play on the same
him an insight into the challenge golf faces playing field against each other, no matter
in retaining players in their 20s and 30s, and their age and ability,” he said. “It is good.
the need to make the game more inclusive. It is very good.”feature by Bruce Baskett
THE UNSUNG GENIUS
OF GOROKE Gerald Murnane, 28-marker at Goroke, honorary
barman and literary genius, recently trekked back to
Metropolitan where he caddied 65 years ago. BRUCE
BASKETT was there to hear his recollections.
Gerald Murnane reliving his
caddying days at Metro after
65 years. Photo courtesy
Metropolitan Golf Club
Golf Victoria 13Gerald Murnane behind the bar at Goroke. Photo by Josh Calvo. And pulling a beer at Metro. Photo courtesy Metropolitan Golf Club
It’s a long straight drive from the Goroke His most recent book – and probably his enthralled as he spoke largely about
Golf Club in western Victoria, near the last – Border Districts was on the short list another of his books called Something for
South Australian border, to Metropolitan for the 2018 Miles Franklin Award. the Pain, which covers his other sporting
Golf Club, venue of this year’s World Cup. love: horse racing. He has an amazing
It was golf that recently lured Gerald back memory of the colours carried by horses
Gerald Murnane, secretary, vice-president to Metro, where he lugged a bag in the over decades, back to his favourite
and part-time barman at Goroke, recently 1950s for luminaries such as the Governor Bernborough, the wonder horse from
piloted his car solo for more than six
Toowoomba (orange, purple sleeves,
hours across the state to play at Metro,
black cap).
where he caddied as a schoolboy about
65 years ago. "THE NEW YORK He only played the back nine, as some
TIMES POSED THE
of the greens were being sanded, and
A nostalgic and arduous journey for just
then took a cart ride around the classic
nine holes on the sandbelt.
first nine which he remembered from his
There were quite a few pitstops along the QUESTION ... caddying days.
exhausting 390-kilometre road trip as
IS THE NEXT
A 28-marker, he hit the ball low and straight
he is a man nearing 80, recovering after
and only his putting let him down on
treatment for prostate cancer.
the slick Metro greens, which take some
Gerald loves golf. He only took the game up NOBEL LAUREATE acclimatisation coming from the sandscrape
again about 10 years ago after a hiatus of greens at Goroke that are tempered with
about 50 years when he moved to Goroke
to live with his son after his wife died.
TENDING BAR IN sump oil from a local farmer.
“My family lived over the other side
If the name of Gerald Murnane is not A DUSTY of Huntingdale Golf Club, but I wasn’t
immediately familiar, it is not surprising as interested in golf and didn’t know how
he has been described as “one of Australia’s
greatest writers who you have never heard
AUSTRALIAN it was played,” he said. “We were always
short of pocket money as kids and the
of” and “an unrecognised genius”.
TOWN?" family wasn’t well off.
This year the New York Times posed the “My brother and I heard through the
question in the headline of a lengthy feature grapevine as schoolkids that caddying was
article: “Is the next Nobel Laureate tending Sir Dallas Brooks and General Sir Horace done at Metropolitan, so for two years we
bar in a dusty Australian town?” The Paris “Red Robbie” Robertson. He made the caddied nearly every weekend. Saturday
Review and the Guardian also laud him. journey to see the course again, play a few and Sunday, sometimes morning and
holes and address the club’s book group. afternoon. I recall we were paid about
He has been nominated for the Nobel
seven shillings a round.
Prize for Literature most years in the past The book group audience, roughly double
decade – the only Australian author to be the total membership of between 30 “I compare the value of money to the price
so honoured. and 40 at his home club at Goroke, was of a paperback book. The first books I ever
14 Golf VictoriaGoroke Golf Club is the community’s social hub. Photo by Paul Shire. Two of Gerald Murnane’s acclaimed books.
bought were with my caddying money, (Talbot Coate was a war hero and bibulous Back at Goroke, when he goes over to
so it seems to me that we were paid the character whose hip flask once ran out tend the bar and he has a spare hour,
equivalent of about $15 a round. With on the fifth hole near Huntingdale, so he he plays three holes near the clubhouse
four rounds some weekends it could be crossed the fence and ordered a refill in and loves the freedom and peace with a
near $60, which was pretty good, and the Huntingdale bar. He was chastised bag of trusty sticks and a little white ball.
my brother bought a brand-new bike but said he was only trying to be friends Since the pub closed, the golf club is the
and other things. My first golf clubs were with Huntingdale members). community’s social hub.
bought with caddying money.”
The only mention of golf in all Gerald’s A mate snapped up Gerald’s clubs at a
As a teenager he also worked part-time 14 books related to something he garage sale for $50. “They are an old set
behind the bar – as he now does at Goroke. with Greg Norman’s name on them.
noticed about the way people spoke
His first clubs were tried out on the quiet at Metropolitan. “They spoke with a I don’t think Greg actually played with
holes far from the clubhouse. Gerald did distinctly English accent, it could have them – though perhaps he sold them after
ask if he could play on the course and was been a public-school accent, but I didn’t one of his bad rounds,” Gerald added.
told he would need to get permission from know anyone from a public school. It Gerald has stopped writing now as he’ll
the manager Jack Kissling. was a fruity accent, not unpleasant. be 80 in February, giving the Remington
“I was intimidated by the whole I thought I’d walked off the planet into Monarch typewriter a rest from the
atmosphere of the clubhouse and the another universe.” pounding by the one finger he used to
idea of me walking in my shabby clothes compose some of the greatest literature
On his return to Metropolitan, he said
to the desk, through the glass doors and in the history of this country.
it had all changed. “I felt welcome the
the corridor beyond. So I never did that,” moment I entered. I thought I would He has won the Victorian Premier’s
Gerald said. Literary Award, the Australia Council
not remember, but I’m amazed about
“I just played a few holes without how much I recall and the friendliness Emeritus award, the Melbourne Prize for
permission. During the school holidays of everybody I’ve met,” he said. Literature and the Patrick White Award.
I would hit some balls on the practice There is still the elusive Nobel Prize.
He took those memories – and lots of
fairway and I guess the members just Hopefully he will join White as the second
photos, particularly the Metro bunkers -
presumed I was a junior member. Australian to be recognised on the
back to Goroke when he drove back a
“I once caddied for psychiatrist Dr Guy few days later. ultimate world literary stage in Sweden.
Springthorpe, the first man I ever saw
The season at Goroke runs from April Gerald handled the round-trip drive
deliberately throw a club in a creek,
to October. Too dry in summer. The nine- from Goroke to Oakleigh well but it is
Collins Street specialist Ewan Downie
highly unlikely he would travel across
(a world-famous endocrinologist and hole course with 18 tees is part of a state
the world to Stockholm.
pioneer in treatment of diabetes), who forest. Every Sunday is competition day
was a nice man who never remembered and on Thursday he drives 60km each He has never been in an aeroplane,
my name and just called me laddie, way to Edenhope to play with a group though he said he once took the ferry
and for Talbot Coate.” called the Geriatrics – “Gerries” for short. to Tassie.
Golf Victoria 15feature by Bruce Matthews
Steffi Vogel has
emulated father Terry
as a Victorian state
team member.
STEFFI MAKES
SHORT WORK
OF PRACTICE
Long drives in the car and However, every teacher preaches the "I've never had the best short game. I
straight drives off the tee have importance of touch and technique, a never really practised it because I found
message that eventually resonated with it quite boring. I just love hitting the driver
been the bedrock of Steffi Vogel’s
country teenager Steffi Vogel, paying and to go out and play holes. I would do
golfing life, but even more handsome dividends this year. anything to not go and chip and putt. But
travelling with the state team I've been focusing more on the stroke and
From the youngest member of the state
made her realise she needed everything," Vogel said.
women's team – and the best performed in
to focus on her short game. the Interstate Teams series in early May – to "It was something I decided to do because
BRUCE MATTHEWS reports. following up with a handful of country titles it was the biggest thing that was costing
to boost self-belief and that critical quality me shots. I was having good rounds, but
Whatever the age, ambition or ability, every of learning how to win, the 19-year-old from they could've been a lot better. And my
golfer yearns for the adrenalin rush from Cobram in northern Victoria is on the rise. bad rounds were because I couldn't get
flushing a drive down the middle of the fairway. up and down.
Vogel has complemented unerring
Smashing balls on the driving range is for accuracy off the tee with an improving "The good players just know how to scramble
many so much more enjoyable than the strike rate for getting up-and-down around for pars. When I got into the state team,
tedious repetition of chipping and putting the green, a stat so critical for players in I realised I had to practise my short game
around the practice green. elite competition. because the girls were incredible with
16 Golf VictoriaPhotography: John Russell
their short games and I knew I had to She slept on the floor of the campus "They are quite flexible with work. I can
do the work. And when you do the work room of teammate Sophie Crouch, go if I need to play a tournament. I usually
and see it during a round, you realise it who was studying for a science degree work five days a week and they could be
was all worth it. at Monash University, during the pennant day or night shifts. If I have night shift I
"I also started reading a couple of books season. And the nearly four-hour drives have the whole day to practise. But there
and online stuff about the mental side. from Cobram didn't faze the determined are days when I start at 10 o'clock and
And I found that when I was playing well country kid, winning four of her five that can be tough in winter to get out
in the last few months that I would hit a matches to help her club avoid relegation. beforehand in the frost. Summer will be
bad shot and not worry too much easier, but it can be difficult to find
about it and just move on. I was a the time to practise," she said.
lot happier out on the course."
While Vogel loves the
That positive, why-worry attitude independence of just going out
was on show as Vogel won four of to play and experiment with shots,
her five matchplay contests in her
she has a loyal team with dad Terry,
rookie Interstate Series at Glenelg
Speirani and pro colleague Michael
Golf Club in Adelaide.
MacGregor to watch over her.
She maintained that form to claim
the Victorian Women's Country "She's just continuing to improve
Championship, beating country every area of her game gradually. I
legend and multiple champion think her greatest strength is that
Judy Langford of Wodonga 5&4 in she doesn't do anything badly, she
the final at Yarrawonga. does everything fundamentally well.
With the short game, we're trying to
And followed up in quick
get sharper and introduce shots for
succession by winning the Cobram-
Barooga Open at her home club, her," Speirani said.
then the Shepparton Open and the "We've all had a little input into the
Goulburn-Murray Golf Association product that's coming out. Terry
Championship at nearby Tocumwal doesn't play much now but when
Golf and Bowls Club, where she
he does, he still goes out and
works with her mother.
flushes them."
Vogel was destined to be a golfer.
Speirani grew up on the
Her father Terry has had a long
and successful amateur career, Mornington Peninsula and plans
captaining the Victorian state to take his talented pupil to the
team in 2011 and 2012 and links-style courses near Bass Strait
winning the club championship 21 in spring and summer to learn
times at Cobram-Barooga, where how to play in those often windy
he works as a groundsman. conditions.
Her mum Jackie was also a
"There's still more work to do. She'll
regular player, along with her
grandparents. get a start at the Vic Open and the
short game is different on that
As a youngster, Steffi was granted style of golf course. We'll spend
permission to caddy for her dad time working on the different shots
in his last Interstate Series, an up-
where you have to hit the ball on
close experience that left a lasting
the ground a little more. You don't
impression.
have the opportunity to hit those
"It was pretty cool because it was at shots up here," he said.
Royal Adelaide. And I was at Royal Adelaide "Sophie's from Mildura and we met as
when I found out I was in the (state) team," juniors and have been really good friends Vogel is under the moniker of Grumpy
she said. since. I'm kind of used to all the driving. Bum when Speirani flicks for her number
I usually listen to music or the footy. I on his mobile phone listings.
Cobram-Barooga professional Justin
normally come down Saturday morning
Speirani had arranged for the teenager "That goes back to when she was about six
and play at Kingswood or Peninsula, stay
to spend a few days practising at Royal and came along with Terry. She was one
Adelaide. And, typically, she found her own overnight and play pennant and then drive
of those little kids who never smiled and
way there without any fuss. home," Vogel said.
I grew up in a house full of girls, so I joked
Long road hauls are the norm for Vogel, Vogel, who plays off a plus-two handicap, with her about being a grump. Quite often
who made the 570km round trip each admits life right now is either work or when she sends a text when she's away
weekend to play pennant for Peninsula- golf as she alternates between Cobram- playing somewhere, she signs it off
Kingswood in Golf Victoria's Division Barooga Golf Club and Tocumwal 15 as Grump. It's just a name that came
Two pennant competition. minutes away. out one day and stuck," he said.
Golf Victoria 17feature by Michael Hedge Graeme Grant … guardian of golfing tradition and a bold innovator. DON’T TAKE GRAEME FOR GRANTED 18 Golf Victoria
Photography: Daniel Pockett
Graeme Grant describes Ocean and started playing. First, they had to learn at its best when the turf is hungry and
Dunes, the course he designed about the game, and not just how to hit taking on more of a brown appearance.”
the ball.
and built on King Island, as Another Crockford philosophy was
the culmination of his life’s “Trevor and I weren’t allowed to go onto the that hollow tyning, the coring of greens,
work. MICHAEL HEDGE speaks golf course to play until we understood the should never be a routine part of turf
etiquette of the game,” Grant said. maintenance.
to one of the most influential
figures in Australian golf course “To learn about etiquette, we had to “’Why’, he would ask, ‘would you want to
construction and maintenance. caddy. And we weren’t allowed to caddy continually destroy the smooth surface
for anybody else until we’d learned how to you are striving for by putting holes in it
Graeme Grant has done more to improve do it by caddying for Dad at Long Island.” that make it soft and prone to Poa annua
the average player’s round of golf than invasion?’” Grant recalled.
most of them will ever know. All three brothers went on to carry bags
for members at Victoria Golf Club, where “Crocky was different, and so was his golf
Golf course superintendent, architect, Bruce ended up as superintendent many course. He was the doyen, streets above
builder and designer, he was one of the years later. everyone else.”
first to understand the benefits offered
by new breeds of couch grass on Grant’s youthful experiences at Long After five years at the knee of the master
Australian golf courses – to the benefit Island also played a part in him eventually at Royal Melbourne, Grant took on a
of clubs and their many thousands of becoming a golf course superintendent. position as an assistant to the curator
members all over Australia. As he waited for his father to finish the John Spencer at Kingswood Golf Club,
post-game traditions, Grant would listen advancing to the top job when Spencer
He is also a very handy golfer, a dedicated
to other golfers in the bar complaining left 18 months later.
club member for 46 years at Woodlands,
a guardian of golfing tradition and a bold about the course. When he went to Kingswood, Grant took
innovator whose thoughts and opinions “They all had a theory about what was with him warnings from his peers and
are offered with enthusiasm. wrong,” he said. “I used to think that others that the Royal Melbourne methods
Grant was taught about golf by his father rather than listen to them, I’d like to do wouldn’t work anywhere else. He took
Ron and about golf courses by the doyen something about it.” no notice and backed himself.
of curators, Royal Melbourne’s legendary But when the 17-year-old Grant decided As well as the regular rounds of care
course manager Claude Crockford. to chuck school in and go and work on a and maintenance, Grant’s major aim
The lessons learned from both have golf course, the father who had provided at Kingswood was to provide pure,
never been forgotten, and never ignored. the spark wasn’t so keen to fan the fire. bentgrass greens that were free of
the dreaded Poa annua weed.
In a career that took him prematurely from “When I told my parents I wanted to leave
school and let him loose as a teenager school before I matriculated, they were By his own admission, Grant damaged
on one of the world’s finest golf courses, horrified,” Grant said. the surfaces by removing the Poa in his
Grant has backed his judgement, taken early days at Kingswood.
His father relented, but only on the
his chances, and excelled, if sometimes condition that he work at Royal “I was impatient and I wanted to get
radically, in combining new thinking with Melbourne under Crockford. those greens at Kingswood the best I
traditional concepts.
could,” he said. “I went out on a limb.
So began one of the more notable,
No better example of that is Ocean Dunes, and occasionally colourful, non-playing There were times when I had to do a
the course he designed and built on King careers in Australian golf. lot of hard talking.” Mostly it was to
Island in Bass Strait. Opened to acclaim do with the experimental nature of his
last year, it debuted in the top 10 of Crockford took on the young Grant as attempts to eradicate the Poa annua.
both the Australian Golf Digest and Golf a junior groundsman at $32 a week
and began to instil in him the lessons In time, the right balance of chemicals
Australia course rankings.
on which he still relies 50 years later. and treatments was achieved, the
Grant’s introduction to golf was as a nine- fairways and greens improved dramatically
year-old knocking balls around parks near One of the first of those was that caring and Kingswood committee members
his family home in Moorabbin with his for a golf course could be one of the most handed Grant licence to make substantial
father and his brothers Bruce, who also stimulating ways there was to make a living. design changes to the course as well
became a golf course superintendent, as to maintain it.
Another, and one of the most enduring,
and Trevor, who was one of Australia’s
was to reject the idea that everything Kingswood became such a showpiece
finest sportswriters.
should be lush and green. that it and its superintendent attracted
“I grew up playing golf. Dad was a golfer, the interest of Kingston Heath committee
Yet another was that a curator’s job
he played at Long Island where my cousin members in 1981 as they prepared for the
wasn’t always to make the grass grow
John Clark was the professional,” Grant said. 1983 Australian Open.
but sometimes to retard its growth, so
“John was a very good golfer who once fertiliser was rarely the answer for Royal
“In what was to be my last year at
took Gary Player to the 37th hole in the Melbourne’s pure bentgrass greens.
Kingswood I was approached by people
Australian PGA Championship. So golf
“Claude Crockford’s mantra was firm, on the committee at Kingston Heath
was in our family.”
fast, true putting surfaces. He wanted with the Open in mind, keen to see what
That didn’t mean, however, that the them consistent all day,” Grant said. we were doing. I obliged and took them
junior Grants merely picked up a club “He maintained that the surface will be on a course inspection.”
Golf Victoria 19The sweeping landscapes
of Ocean Dunes have
won widespread acclaim.
Photo courtesy:
Graeme Grant.
Soon afterwards they hired him and Grant That experience set them in the direction The next step was to find the right breed
looked after one of the best courses in they wanted to go and after the 1983 of couch to improve the weak areas he
Australia for the next 16 years. Open at Kingston Heath, Grant was would inevitably create.
experimenting, using the short par-four “There had always been common couch,
At about the same time, Spencer took
up the superintendent’s job at third as his laboratory. about 10 varieties of it, but some weren’t
Huntingdale. He and Grant formed a dense enough and were too open in their
“We were forever chasing our tails prior
consulting business and the pair pursued growth habit. Then we discovered Santa Ana
to 1983, all we knew was to starve and
the dream that led to Santa Ana. which had been cultivated in America and
dry out the fairways to rid them of winter
was ideal for climates like ours,” he said.
It was less than straightforward. grasses,” Grant said.
A trial of both Santa Ana and Wintergreen
Grant and Spencer got an idea of how A key to the breakthrough was a herbicide varieties of couch followed at Kingston
good a pure couch surface could be called Atrazine, which knocked out the Heath, with Grant settling on the former
when they inspected the new hybrid cool-season grass and left the couch. for most fairways with Wintergreen
couch fairways at The Australian GC “It worked, so I took it gradually through planted on those that were subject to
during the 1982 Australian Open. the course at Kingston Heath,” Grant said. a heavier concentration of divots.
20 Golf Victoria“I searched for
six years and
found links land
on King Island
like no other in
Australia.”
As successful as the early experiments were, greens’. If you want awkward lies, they championships at Woodlands.
it took until 1996 for Kingston Heath to have should be designed into the course.
“The culmination of my life’s work was
18 fairways of primarily Santa Ana couch.
“The ball may run further but run has Ocean Dunes,” he said. “I searched for six
Despite Santa Ana now being one of the always been part of the game and judging years and found links land on King Island
most commonly used couch grasses in that run is a skill in itself. Straight shots like no other in Australia and I was able to
fairways in Victoria, it has its detractors. might benefit but offline shots are more design and build a course ranked number
Some have even suggested that it provides likely to be in trouble." eight in the country.
such good lies that it is unfair. Others, like
the late Peter Thomson, were concerned For Grant, the debates are now largely “When I think about what I love so much
that it allowed the ball to run too far. academic, having shifted his focus towards about golf, I think of the friends I’ve made
design and consultancy work - including and what my father said to me when he
Grant sees it differently. at Kew Golf Club where he continues
taught me to play.
“I can’t understand that thinking,” he said. to consult after spending eight years
“As a superintendent, our life revolves redesigning the course – along with “He told me I would be able to play
around providing the best surface for playing the game he loves, one which this game for my entire life. At 68,
golfers. No-one says ‘let’s have bumpy has rewarded him with four senior I’m living those words.”
Golf Victoria 21tournament by John Mack
What a
finish!
Thumbs up from Sophie Yip as she
and Kazuma Kobori celebrate their
Victorian Boys and Girls victories.
Back to back for a Kiwi and a stunning finish by a And if the girls’ event finished spectacularly, the leading boys also
Sydneysider highlighted a week when the young turned on a show, 16-year-old New Zealander Kazuma Kobori
defending the title he won last year with an astounding 10 under
stars of the game put on a show at the Victorian Boys par for his four rounds.
and Girls Championships. Report by JOHN MACK.
And while interstate and overseas visitors took the major
A stunning finish to a fascinating duel in the sun and the wind, honours in the championships, open to players under the age
the narrow leader sinking a pitch shot for eagle on the 72nd hole of 18, Victorian Daniel Gill played his role, leading into the final
to see off a persistent challenger … it was a shot worthy of the round and finishing third in what was a revealing look at our next
PGA Tour but, in fact, was played by New South Wales 14-year-old generation of elite players.
Sophie Yip at the Victorian Boys and Girls Championships at the Kobori, a plus-two marker, birdied the first two holes to take a
testing Moonah LInks course on the Mornington Peninsula. lead he never relinquished and his six-birdie round of 69 on the
22 Golf VictoriaPhotography: Paul Shire
par-72 Open Course gave him victory by four strokes from one as she and Yip came down the par-five 72nd hole.
Royal Fremantle’s Hayden Hopewell and seven from Gill.
It was then that Yip played her final shot with a sand iron.
Japan-born Kobori, from the Pegasus club just north of “I didn’t see it go in,” she said. “Everyone clapped and I assumed
Christchurch, is coached by dad Reo and plans to finish school it was maybe a foot from the hole but when I got there, the ball
then move into ‘’something to do with golf”, preferably as a player wasn’t there.”
if he can make the grade.
“I didn’t know (I was only one stroke ahead) as I wasn’t looking at the
“It feels amazing,” he said of his win. “I won by one last year and scoreboard. I was just focussing on my own game, shot by shot.”
didn’t really know I had won until I finished but this year I had full
Song, the 2017 New South Wales Junior Champion, was gracious
control. But it was tough as the wind was quite strong.”
in defeat. “I was kind of half-half,” she said. “I was happy for her
Will he be trying for a three-peat in 2019? “It’s a great tournament but also disappointed.
and I’ll give it my best shot,” Kobori said.
“I knew I was a shot behind but I tried not to think about it. I
Girls winner Yip, a plus-two marker from Sydney’s Concord club, was about 32 metres out, just in front of Sophie, and I chipped
edged out fellow Sydneysider June Song in another classic duel. to about three feet. I was hoping I could make a birdie and she
would make par and I could get into a playoff.”
Yip played in the US Amateur Championships in Tennessee in
August and although she narrowly missed qualifying for the The Victorian Boys and Girls Championships are Australian and
matchplay rounds, that experience showed against Song. world-ranked events. They have been won by such notables
as Lindy Goggin, Rachel Hetherington, Su Oh, Ian Stanley, Bob
The pair began the final day on 218, two over par and four strokes
Shearer, Marc Leishman and Kevin Hartley.
clear of the rest of the field. Song snatched the lead with birdie
on the second hole but went one behind when she made double Live scores were available on the Golf Victoria website on all four days
bogey on the third. Twice she fought back to level but trailed by and the final round was streamed live with commentary by GV staff.
gill the leading victorian
Leading Victorian Daniel Gill, 17, a plus- “It was very windy and a bit of a struggle school, play golf in a gap year and see
two marker who attends Catholic College but I was happy with the way I played on how I’m going after that.”
Wodonga, finished third after starting the the first three days and pretty happy with
Louis Dobbelaar (Brookwater, Queensland)
final round in the lead at eight under par, the result. I’d have taken third at the start
finished fourth, Lachlan Chamberlain
one clear of Kobori, and three ahead of of the week.” (Federal, ACT) was fifth and then came four
Royal Fremantle’s Hayden Hopewell. Gill’s first contact with golf not only Victorians – Phoenix Campbell and Jasper
introduced him to the sport but gave him Stubbs (both Huntingdale), Mitchell Crabbe
Gill, who played Division One men’s
invaluable exposure to two key elements (Commonwealth) and Matthew Lever (The
pennant for Commonwealth this year and
of the game. National).
is a member of the Victorian State Junior
Team, stayed in touch until a triple-bogey “I started when I was about 10 or 11,” he Victorian girls also filled five of the top
seven on the sixth. said. “My dad, Wayne, played comp and ten placings. Kay Bannan (Southern) and
when he was playing I used to chip and Jeneath Wong (Metropolitan) were equal
“I lost my ball left, went back to the tee, fourth, Sheradyn Johnson (Commonwealth)
putt for about four hours.
drove down the middle then wedge long, sixth, Ashni Solanki (Victoria) seventh and
missed the up-and-down and it was pretty “I’d like to be a golfer but perhaps I’ll study Piper Stubbs (Huntingdale), sister of Jasper,
hard to come back from there,” he said. business at university as a backup. I’ll finish finished ninth.
BOYS
Champion: Kazuma Kobori (Pegasus, NZ) 278
Handicap champion: Jack Mackenzie (Medway) 278
Under-16 champion: Nathan Page (The National) 295
Under-16 nett champion: Fraser Anderson (Berwick Montuna) 284
Under-14 champion: Jake Foley (Keppel Club, Singapore) 309
Under-14 nett champion: Flynn Trembath (Kooringal) 289
GIRLS
Champion: Sophie Yip (Concord, NSW) 288
Handicap champion: June Song (Avondale, NSW) 294
Under-16 champion: Sophie Yip (Concord, NSW) 288
Under-16 nett champion: Trinity Francis (Huntingdale) 295
Under-14 champion: Jeneath Wong (Metropolitan) 304
Under-14 nett champion: Sayumi De Costa (Victoria) 305
Golf Victoria 23You can also read
