Saturday May 25th – Monthly Medal & Medal of Medalists – Stroke & Putts

A strong field teed off in the club’s May Medal and Medal of Medalists.  The recent rain had seen both good growth and softening fairways. This, and the cold air, saw everyone loose distance off the tee making for much longer second shots.  Chips had to be well played or the much denser grass would pull them up well short of the green.  As the round wore on a gusting wind from the north also added to the challenge of the day.  The forecast rain held off until late in the afternoon and final groups got in to the rooms just before the clouds opened.  For the first 16 holes the Medal of Medalists field looks to be a close run thing until one of the club’s best match-play players got really serious and was able to play very steady golf over the final two holes.  The May Medal field came down to a battle between two. Some excellent golf over the back nine saw the May Medal decided.  On a cold, overcast afternoon the results were;

Medal of Medalists; Rob Rea – 92/17/75

May Medalist; Andrew Laing – 92/21/71 from Anthony Lakey – 94/20/74

NTPs; 1st – John Freestone, 15th – Jim Patton

Least Putts; Chris vanDerVliet – 28

Thursday May 23rd – Strathbogie Bowl – Strathbogie G. C.

An RGC team of Darlene Baker, Jenny Hartley & Elaine Scanlon headed to Strathbogie to play in their annual bowl. The weather was perfect for golf, clear and sunny with not a breath of wind. The course was in excellent condition and the greens ran true. During presentations the members of Strathbogie acknowledged the long time contribution of Helen Hill who has been a club member and held numerous committee positions for over forty years.  Helen will be missed by all when she moves to Wodonga.

Elaine Scanlon played well and was runner up in C Grade on a count back.  Darlene Baker was runner up in B Grade and received three Player of the Year points. Jenny Hartley enjoyed her round and appreciated the use of a cart on the hilly high country.

The Bowl was closely contested with Euroa defeating Seymour on a count back.

Wednesday May 22nd – Stableford

It is truly amazing how the course is becoming greener and greener each week. The heavy dew made putting tricky for the first 9 holes but once the sun hit the greens the going was much easier. The reduced run on the fairways made second shots a tad longer than during the summer months.  The day’s results were;
Winner; Darlene Baker from Jenny Hartley & Kath Jekabsons

Nine-Hole Comp; Jan Harver from Lorraine Robb

Tuesday May 21st –

RGC was represented by Lorraine Robb  and Beryl Cole in the Kyneton 4BBB competition. Conditions were perfect with no breeze and mainly overcast skies.  The course had benefited from the rain on the previous day and was playing a little longer than normal. Lorraine and Beryl combined well to score 40 pts and were runners up in B grade on a count back. The day’s winners were;

A grade; Riverside 8 – 43 pts.

B grade; Kyneton 4 pair – 43pts.

Monday May 20th – Rd 5, 2019 DDGA Women’s Pennant

Handicap Division 3

RGC travelled to Trentham to take on the home team at their picturesque course.  After last week’s rain the course had softened considerably and more steady rain during the morning was not a positive for the day’s round.  At 9.30 am  the first pair hit off soon followed by the 2nd pair.  The rain continued to fall and just before the 3rd pair hit off the greenskeeper declared the course unplayable and called the competition off.  All teams were awarded half points.  Overall results were;

Romsey Sq Trentham – 2.5/2.5

Lancefield Sq Avenel – 2.5/2.5

Sunday May 19th – 2019 DDGA Men’s Pennant

Handicap Division 3

RGC travelled to Woodend for the final round of the Div 3 Men’s Pennant.  With Woodend (hosting) already in the final there were three teams vying for the second spot.  All RGC had to do was win, same for Kilmore.  If both lost and Mt Macedon won then they were in so a very complicated situation.  On a good day for golf on a very well presented course both RGC and Kilmore went down and Mt Macedon snuck in with a win.  RGC results were;   Mitch Atlas – L4/2, Scott Williams – Sq, B McLennan – L2/1, Mick Nicholls Jnr – L3/2, Andrew Laing – Sq, John Freestone – L4/3 7 Mick Nicholls Snr – L4/2.

Overall results were;

Hidden Valley D Romsey – 6/1

Mt Macedon D Euroa – 4/3

Trentham D Kilmore – 4/3

Woodend will play Mt Macedon in the final, venue to be announced.  Good luck to both teams.

Saturday May 18th – Rd 3 – 2019 men’s Club Championships

On a smashing day for golf, clear, sunny skies with very little breeze, all members rallied to challenge the leaders from round two.  The course had continued to green up and the greens were in top nick, thanks largely to the efforts of Hugh and Les.  In A Grade the shine had slightly gone from the two glorious first rounds Les Gaunt had played allowing current champion Michael Squire to steal a three shot win. B Grade was tight and torrid with all three leaders dead level off the stick with two holes to play.  They all had a six on the par 5, 17th so, just the last hole to decide the day.  The 360m par 4, 18th is rated the most difficult hole on the course.  Scott Williams pulled his drive into the trees but after two other excellent drives followed by good approach shots it was down to two competitors, John Freestone and Rob Rea were on for four with shortish putts for a one over five.  John, he of the steely nerves, dropped his putt throwing all the pressure onto Rob.  Rob’s putt just lipped out to give John the one stroke win. In C Grade, that cagey veteran John Laing just couldn’t quite keep up with the lower handicapper Dave Richardson. Dave went on to claim an eight stroke win.

The day was notable for many things  but perhaps the most important was veteran Peter Scanlon completing his 61st consecutive Club Championship.  Thanks Peter, you are a great inspiration to us all.  There were also two excellent  performances across the three days with both Mal Mottram and John Freestone playing to their handicap each day, very consistent golf and difficult to achieve on such a tight course and under the pressure of the Club Championships

After the round everyone enjoyed a very relaxed dinner, (thanks Wilko and Andrew Laing) then cheered on the day’s winners and the winners of the various awards from 2018.  RGC vice president Kevin Dunn presided over the presentations noting many of the club’s achievements during the 2018 year and then thanking the very many people who had worked so hard to improve both the golf course and Romsey Park in general

The 2019 Men’s Championships final results were;

A Grade;     Winner – Mick Squire – 244,        R/U – Les Gaunt – 247,     Nett – Mal Mottram – 216

B Grade;     Winner – John Freestone – 279,    R/U – Rob Rea – 280,       Nett – John Freestone – 216

C Grade;     Winner – Dave Richardson – 317, R/U – John Laing – 325,   Nett – Peter Scanlon – 240

2019  Champions Mick Squire, John Freestone & Dave Richardson with RGC VP Kevin Dunn

Club  Championship Shields

Peter Scanlon Shield (Best Nett 55+); John Freestone – 216

John Jeffries Shield (Best Overall Nett); John Freestone – 216, CB from Mal Mottram

John Jeffrey & Peter Scanlon Shield winner John Freestone with RU, Mal Mottram and Peter Scanlon

Senior Cup (Best Nett  70 +); Les Gaunt – 223

The 2019 Club Champions, Darlene Baker & Mick Squire.

The day’s results;

Winner;  J Freestone – 91/21/70, from Jim Patton Patton & Mick Nicholls snr, both – 93/21/72

NTP; 15th – Dave Richardson

 

Thursday May 16th – Yea Bowl – Yea G. C.

As the RGC contingent, Lorraine Robb, Jenny Hartley and Darlene Baker, approached the Yea Golf Course a dense fog descended across the course and lasted for 17 holes!! The chilly air and heavy a dew made the going tough. Scoring was difficult for some although individual grade winners did very well especially Adrianne Anglin in A Grade  who scored 40 points off a handicap of 14.   Romsey’s Jenny Hartley was the B Grade winner scoring 35 points and three points in the Player of the Year Award- congratulations Jenny.
The winning team of the Yea Bowl for 2019 was a  team from Healesville (RACV) with a combined score of 101 points narrowly beating the Seymour team on a count back.

Wednesday May 15th – Rd 3 – 2019 Women’s Club Championships

The third round of the Club Championship was played in wonderful Autumn weather. The course showed the effects of the recent rains with the grass cover increasing by the week. The greens were in near perfect condition and were quite fast.  Congratulations goes to Darlene Baker who played consistent golf over the three weeks to win the 2019 Championships. Jenny Hartley and Elaine Scanlon battled it out for the best Nett score with Jenny coming out on top after a count back was needed to separate the two. Well done to all players.  There day’s results were;

Winner; Darlene Baker – 96/19/77 C/B from Beryl Cole – 100/23/77 & Jenny Hartley – 97/19/78

Least Putts: Beryl Cole – 26

2019 Club Champion; 

Darlene Baker from Jenny Hartley, Elaine Scanlon & Lorraine Robb.

Monday May 13th – Rd 4 – 2019 DDGA Women’s Pennant

RGC hosted the 4th round of the 2019 women’s pennant.  RGC, playing Avenel, hit off from 9.00 am.  The recent rains and overnight dew had slowed the greens; all players had to be assertive with the putter if they wished to take advantage of good approach shots.  Lancefield took on Trentham.  RGC results were; Darlene Baker – W3/2, Jenny Hartley -L4/3 , Beryl Cole -Sq , Elaine Scanlon – W5/3 & Lorraine Robb -Sq

Overall results on the day were

Romsey D Avenel – 3/2

Lancefield D Trentham – 3.5/1.5