Yearly Archives: 2018

Weather conditions were quite variable as the players teed off in the October Medal and the 2018 Medal of Medalists. Overcast skies were followed by patches of bright sunshine and there was a steady breeze from the SSW which kept the clouds moving.  The fairways and greens were in top nick so the day’s results were really up to just how well the game was played.  The Medal of Medallists teed off from the 1st and immediately there were some excellent shots, current club champion, Mick Squire, dropped a beauty onto the small green to eventually take the NTP on that hole.  As the round progressed it became clear that it was a battle between three players and  the final two holes proved to be decisive.  On a day when the clouds generally got the better of the sun the results were;

Winner, October Medalist and 2018 Medal of Medalists; John Freestone – 92/21/71 from Mick Squire – 80/8/72 & Pat Chisholm – 84/11/73

NTPs; 1st Mick Squire, 15th  – Jim Patton & 16th – Chris vanDerVliet

Least Putts; Mick Squire – 27

October Medalist and 2018 Medal of Medalists John Freestone with RGC captain Scott Williams 

Vale John Mitchell

The club would like to commemorate the life of 1967 club champion John Mitchell.  John was a proud and much admired, member of the Mitchell clan, between 1955 and 1969 male and female members of the clan won 30 club championships.  John played in numerous pennant teams and was a member of the victorious  team of 1973 when RGC won the Inner Western District “scratch” shield.  John died suddenly in late October and was buried in Colac.

On a very chilly, spring day a round of Stableford was played.  Although a gusty wind prevailed conditions were quite good with the greens holding well and bold putts were fully rewarded. The fairways had good cover with few very bare patches. Scoring was consistent with Jenny Hartley winning the day, Elaine Scanlon coming in second followed very closely by Beryl Cole in third place. Nine hole winner was Jan Harver who chipped in for par on her final hole for the day topping off a steady round.

Steady rain began very early in the morning and continued until almost 10.00 am, things did not look good for golf however golfers, being a hardy lot, began to arrive at the rooms, in slight drizzle, just after 11.00am.  As the groups headed to the tee the weather improved and a spot of sun shone through here and there.  The course was in good nick and the fairways and greens had handled the week’s rain quite well.  However, anyone who found themselves in an area of uncut rough really had their work cut out to get the ball back into play.  The conditions continued to improve until about half way through when a steady, S/SW wind blew up and rain fell.      Wet clubs and gusting winds made the final nine more than normally challenging and despite some excellent golf  along the way no-one was able to better their handicap.  On a very difficult day the results were;

Winner; Les Gaunt – 81/8/73 from Anthony Lakey – 96/22/74 & Jim Patton – 93/19/74

NTPs; 15th – Mick Nicholls Jnr

Quarter Finals of the John Laing Shield will be;

Les Gaunt (0) Vs Mick Nicholls Jnr (7)

Jim Patton (11) Vs Mick Squire (0)

Anthony Lakey (0) Vs Ron Walker (1)

Mal Mottram (0) Vs John Laing (17)

Players took to the field with thunderstorms threatening. The weather however did not produce any rain (or storms) and the round was played in blustery but fine conditions. The course was in good post-winter condition and the greens have recovered well from our current bi-annual coring.  On a day of Foursomes the competition was very close during the front nine, however Beryl Cole and Jenny Hartley teamed very well over the back nine  to record a comfortable win with Wendy Gosden and Darlene Baker in second position.

144 players teed off, in am and pm fields, for the second state final of the 2018 Doris Chambers Cup at the Sanctuary Lakes Golf Club.  Miss Doris Chambers OBE, a past Ladies Golf Union President donated the Cup, for the Golf Victoria event which originated in 1950.  The format being foursome, stableford with each each club playing a qualifying round and the winning pair progressing to the state final.  The first qualifying final was held at Cranbourne on October 4th.

Wendy Gosden/Elaine Scanlon (34) represented Romsey in the pm field and were able to put together an excellent front nine (20 pts) but, finding it difficult to judge the strong sea breeze on the back nine, scoring was not so good to record a final score of 34 pts.  At the end of the day the RGC team were beaten in three way count back for runners up by J. Carmody/J. Arundell (28) from Terang (2nd) and Numurkah.  Overall the RGC pair placed 10th in the Sanctuary Lakes final.
The Sanctuary Lakes champions playing in the pm field were Jenny McSwain/Beth Murray (28) from Kyneton with 36 points. Congratulations to KGC pair Jenny and Beth.

The club’s stableford competition saw players tee off under clear skies, on an afternoon that was almost perfect for golf; the only challenging element, an occasional, and very uncommon, wind from the east.  The fairways which had been cut on Friday were generally lush with only the odd bare spot.  The greens were on their way back from coring but golfers had to attack the cup or risk ending up well short (in a few weeks those attacking putts will end up well passed).  Most golfers were able to string together a few good holes but virtually no-one could play consistent golf over the full 18 holes.  So, despite the good conditions, only one golfer was able to better his handicap.  On a beautiful mid-spring day the results were;

Winner; Les Gaunt (9) – 40 pts from Scott Williams (18) – 33 pts

NTPs; 1st Mick Nicholls Jnr, 15th – Les Gaunt

Jenny Hartley and Lorraine Robb represented RGC at Woodend in their 2018 Annette Wiber Tournament. It was the first time that Jenny had played at Woodend and she shared a cart with Gail Leigh, who won the tournament. Jenny was pleased that she occasionally outdrove Gail while Lorraine was pleased that she dropped a couple of long putts on Woodend’s tricky greens. The weather was perfect, the course was in excellent condition and the food was great.

It was a challenging day for golf; both physically and mentally. The course was heavier due to the very welcoming ~20mm of rain the previous day and the wind blew in gusts. As it was a Par 3 competition the women’s tee markers had been moved to distances between 180 m to 80 m from the green so choosing which club to use took some serious thought. We were pleased to welcome back Kath and Denise’s visitor from BMW. In the end the results for the 12-hole competition were quite close.

Winner; Jenny Hartley – 51/12/39 from Kath Jekabsons – 54/14.5/39.5 and Pam Drummond – 57/16/41

With the very recently cored, top-dressed, seeded and fertilised greens nowhere near their finest a round of Ambrose seemed a good solution.  Players headed to the tee under the best conditions since mid autumn,  bright and sunny with clear skies and the merest zephyr of a breeze from the north-east.  Club captain, Scott Williams, had chosen some very unusual, and tricky, pin locations and his name was often heard as players attempted to hole out.   Despite the rough greens and the unusual pin placements some excellent golf was played.  Evergreen veteran Les Gaunt played a “blinder” to take out NTP on the 16th while Pat Chisholm’s and Mick Nicholls Jnr’s approach shots and Jim Patton’s dead-eye putting played a major part in their team “taking home the chocolates”.  On a wonderful day to be out in the park the results were;

Winner; Pat Chisholm/Jim Patton/Mick Nicholls Jnr – 70/7.5/62.5 from Scott Williams/Sherif Abdel-Sayed/Chris vanDerVliet – 77/11/66

NTP; 16th – Les Gaunt

A strong field teed off enjoying the beautiful weather and what a fun day playing on cored greens and spring growth across the course.  Despite all this there was excellent team work by all the teams.
Winners; Bruce Robb (30)/Hugh Williams (23)/John Freestone (21) –  44 points from Jenny Hartley (24)/Pam Drummond (32)/Elaine Scanlon (30) – 43 points