Wednesday March 21st – Doris Chambers – Foursomes.

For the first time in many weeks players teed off on a cooler, stiller morning.  The recent dews had produced a green tinge across most fairways but they were still hard with the odd crack here and there; balls travelled a long way with the occasional one taking a surprising deviation.  The greens had recovers well from their recent deep coring however some recalcitrant corellas were still hanging around determined to do as much damage as they could before they headed north for the winter.  As a result putting on the 15th and 16th was quite a challenge.  The Doris Chambers Cup is an 18 Hole Stableford Foursomes event. The perpetual trophy was donated by Miss Doris Chambers OBE, former Ladies Golf Union President and was first played in 1950. Romsey women today played a qualifying round of this competition, the winners will proceed to one of two State Finals later in the year.
Results for the day :
1st; Wendy Gosden/Elaine Scanlon 32/38pts
2nd; Kath Jekabsons/Darlene Baker 23/35pts
3rd; Pam Drummond/Jenny Hartley 29/34pts

Saturday March 17th – Algie Mitchel Quarter Finals & Stableford

With an extremely hot and windy day predicted two of the Algie Mitchell Quarter Finals teed off at 8.30 am.  The other two finals and the remainder of the field headed out at midday.  The day began with gusting winds from the north which swung to the west and back again however, this wind kept the players much cooler than expected.  The strong head winds of some holes saw very unusual club selection, this was also true when playing down wind holes.  The hard, dry fairways saw everyone get excellent value for well struck drives with a number of players hitting well over 250m.  The recently deep cored greens proved to be a bit of a challenge but anyone who pitched on know that their ball would hold.  Putting required some nerve and a willingness to hit much harder than usual.  Unfortunately the corellas had dug around the cups on some greens so getting the ball into those holes was a little easier .  Despite the wind and the unusual movement on a few greens there was some excellent scoring.  On a hot, windy day the results were;

Winner; John Laing (28) – 44 pts from Tony Freeman (21) – 41 pts, Anthony Lakey (22) – 40 pts, Chris vanDerVliet (24) 40 pts, Mal Mottram (11) – 37 pts, Bob Dwyer (36) – 36 pts & Andrew Laing (19) – 36 pts

Women’s Winner; Pam Drummond (33) – 36 pts

NTPs; 15th – Hugh Drummond & 16th – John Freestone

Algie Mitchell Quarter Finals

Jm Patton (10) D Shannon Wright (0) – 1up

Mick Nicholls Snr (13) D Michael Squires (0) – 2/1

John Moody (0) D Mick Nicholls Jnr (2) – 3/2

Rob Rea (6) D Bob McLennan (0) – 2up

The semifinals of the Algie Mitchell will be

Jim Patton (8) Vs John Moody (0)

Mick Nicholls Snr (4) Vs Rob Rea (0)

Friday March 16th – Goonawarra Bowl – Goonawarra G. C.

The Gonnawarra Bowl was held  in near perfect conditions. The weather was lovely, the fairways were lush and recently mown and the greens were mighty fast but true. A field of 57 took to the course from 8.30am and had a very enjoyable round of golf.  RGC was well represented by Wendy Gosden; (34) – 36 points,  Jenny Hartley; (29) – 32 points and Darlene Baker; (18) – 30 points, their total score of 98 pts placed them 4th overall.

The day’s winners; Northern Golf Club – 106 Stableford Points.

Thursday March 15th – Sandy Wilson Bowl – Marysville G. C.

RGC Members Lorraine Robb, Beryl Cole and Darlene Baker made the two hour trek across to Marysville to play in this annual event. The weather was crisp in the morning and warmed up nicely in the afternoon, warm enough in fact for a snake to make its way across the 17th fairway, much to the surprise of unsuspecting golfers. The course was in very good condition however  the green keeper had advised that after no rain for 44 days preferred lies were granted across the course. Most players agreed that this was very generous.   The greens ran true and were reasonably fast.

The bowl winners were Mansfield 2 with a total of 107 points.

Wednesday March 14th – Stableford

The 18-hole field headed out for a second round of match-play with three hotly contested matches being played.  The recent works to the greens made putting more than challenging and all balls had to be struck firmly to have any chance of making it to the cup.  All greens, however, were quite soft, if sandy, so all approach shots that landed on a green soon pulled up.  Match-play is an interesting format and the practice should prepare players well for the 2018  Pennant Competition which starts next month.  On a warm, sunny morning the match-play results were;

Beryl Cole (24) All Square Jenny Hartley (26).

Lorraine Robb (34) D Darlene Baker (17) – 2 up.

Pam Drummond (33) D Wendy Gosden (32) – 2/1.

Nine-hole Competition winner; Kath Jekabsons (28) – 15 Pts from Jan Harver (45)  – 11 Pts.

Men’s Stableford Winner; Hugh Williams (23) –  43 Stableford points (a great effort with the greens in their current uncut and sandy condition.)

Friday Match 9th – Deep hollow-tyne verti-draining

Members spent most of Friday March 9th coring, topdressing, seeding and fertilising the greens.  At 6.30 pm they returned to spray nematodes on to each green.  The nematodes will attack and kill all curl and white grubs.  The corellas love these grubs and tear up any area where the grubs may be.  Let’s hope the nematodes take and the birds do far less damage in the future.
As a result of these works there was no golf at Romsey on Sat 10th.
Thank you for a big day’s work  to Bob McL, John F, Ron W, Bruce R, Elaine S, Kev D, Mick N Snr, Hugh D, Pam D, Mal M, Scott W & Peter S.  (If I have missed anyone please let me know.)
Many members went to Lancefield for their Open 4BBB or Heathcote for a round.

Friday March 9th – Ruby McKenzie Salver – Woodend G. C.

The Ruby McKenzie Salver was contested at Woodend Golf Club, Ruby was one of Victoria’s greatest country golfers and former VLGU and Australian Golf Council member and played her early golf at the Woodend club.   The Woodend G. C. website the club states, “…. our course is not long but presents a great many challenges for golfers of all abilities.” and that proved to be the case!  The hilly nature of the course requires careful placement on the fairways and a deft touch around the tricky greens.  The course was in fantastic condition, though scoring well proved to be quite difficult.  The signature par 3, 11th hole, which has the tee situated very high above the green, is a wonderful hole and today Wendy Gosden managed to earn the Nearest the Pin award on that hole. Romsey’s representatives were Lorraine Robb and Darlene Baker.  All three players, along with the rest of the field,  enjoyed the perfect weather, delighted in the challenge of the course and had a lovely lunch after the game.
Woodend member Maureen Warrener had 38pts with the next best score being 32.
Congratulations to the Woodend team who combined well to win the Ruby McKenzie Salver.

Wednesday March 7th – Handicap Matchplay

With the women’s pennant golf season rapidly approaching the golfers played a round of handicap match play.   The matches were played under still, clear skies, virtually perfect weather conditions.  The hard fairways again saw everyone get excellent value from their drives but approach shots had to be accurate as the green surrounds quickly pulled up any shots not on target.

Always competitive, Leila Beasley won her nine hole match against Jan Harver.

Pam Drummond played very well to defeat club captain Lorraine Robb.

Having to give nine strokes to Jenny Hartley, Darlene Baker played valiantly only for Jenny to play superb golf, parring six holes on her way to a three hole victory.

The men played Stableford over 18 holes with Bruce Robb the winner with 36 Stableford points closely followed by Hugh Williams 32 points.

Saturday March 3rd – Qualifying Round Algie Mitchell Shield – Stableford – Top Eight

There was a steady westerly wind blowing as players headed to the tee for the 48 Algie Mitchell Shield.  The dry fairways saw everyone get excellent value for well struck drives however the odd crack saw a few balls bounce in very unpredictable directions.  Some repairs and rolling saw the greens quite fast and very true and at long last it seems as if the Corellas might be thinking of moving on.  Towards the end of the round the wind moved around to the south bringing the internal “Out Of Bounds”  on the 18th into play giving some players more than a little cause for concern as they finished off their round.  Despite the odd bad bounce and the effect of the wind a number of players handed in excellent cards.  On a hot, windy day the results were;

Winner; Jim Patton (22) – 43 pts from Mick Squires (9) – 38 pts and Mick Nicholls Jnr (16) – 36 pts

Womens Winner; Pam Drummond (34) – 41 pts

NTPs; 16th – Scott Williams.

The Quarter Finals of the Algie Mitchell Shield will be;

Jim Patton (12) Vs Shannon Wright (0)

Mick Squires (0) Vs Mick Nicholls Snr (13)

Mick Nicholls Jnr (2) Vs John Moody (0)

Rob Rea (6) Vs Bob McLennan (0)

Thursday March 1st – Lancefield Women’s Open

The first day of March brought with it strong winds and bothersome rain as players assembled at the Lancefield Golf Club for the Lancefield Women’s Open Tournament.  Thankfully the rain abated but the gusty winds persisted for the duration of the 18 holes making club selection a little tricky even on the shorter par three holes.  Grass cover on the fairways was good with relief allowed from the occasional bare patch. The greens were very good or rather tricky depending on who you spoke to.

Cheryl Anderson (Kilmore G. C.) was the tournament winner with a wonderful score of 80 gross, an excellent day’s golf.

Beryl Cole, was runner up in B Grade.

Wendy Gosden was the C Grade winner; 100/32/68.  Wendy also won the day’s veteran’s event and was nearest the pin on the 16th, not a bad day’s work.