T.L. WARREN TROPHY
It’s always great to get the season underway at home, especially when we dialled up a nice 30k southerly gusting up to 52k. The Antill boys didn’t seem phased by the wind early on and there was a lot of great golf all day. In the end, the back nine proved to be too much for them and we Coasted to a 3-0 victory. This year’s team has a great culture already and we all looked fantastic in the gear the Rep Committee provided!
3’s Andy King – Noah Bennett
It was great to see Noah get his first taste of pennants play, the pair combined brilliantly, never seeming to be worried all day. They were up from the get-go but were pushed throughout with some good scrambling from Antill (somehow making a 15-foot downhill putt on 6). In the end the duo ground away the opposition winning 3&2 (Special thanks to Tony Lloyd being on the bag in this match)
2’s Ben O’Neill – Ben Gauci
Ben Gauci got his Coast debut in pennants as a seasoned pennants veteran elsewhere. The Ben’s formed a rock-solid duo but found themselves down in a touch match early on. They righted the ship and combined well to go 3 up through 10 with some fantastic putting (Ben O draining a long one on 7). Once they had the lead, they kept their foot on the pedal. They finished the match in dramatic fashion on 15 when Ben G chipped in for birdie from about 30m! Winning 5&3 (Special thanks to Doug Wesney and Ben Spicer-Marks for the super caddying)
1’s Mark Millican (Captain) – Glen Hetherington
As an unbeaten pairing from last year, they started this season right where they left off. After jumping out to an early lead they found themselves all square through 9 holes. Captain Mark was unflappable all day and Glen’s 5 hole run from 10-15 saw the team to go 2 up through 15. Mark finished them off hitting two incredible approach shots on 16 and 17 to close the door on a clean sweep winning 3&1 (Special thanks to Steve Gaynor and Super caddy Michael Kent on the bags)
Thanks to Mitch Van Homrigh and Perry Stanbrook for helping me keep track of the boys. Also, thanks to all the supporters who came out and braved the wind to help spot and support (Luke Goodier, Merv Danne, Daniel McNeill & Van Winkle, Maurie Rivett, Anthony Ragusa, Michael White, Peter Brown, Paul Bonomy, Willy Whittlam, might have missed some). It’s always great when we have 20 people looking for a ball in the bushes!
As always, thanks to Captain Tony (gave quite a few rulings) and Deb for giving up their Sundays to support the club.
Kevin Isch – Warrens Team Manager 2023
W. GIBSON TROPHY
Our guys were pumped for the start of the season all proudly wearing their amazing uniform provided by the rep committee and our sponsors (again a big thank you for this amazing kit).
In cold (16 degrees max, more like 6) blustery weather with 30k southerly winds and the promise of heavy rain, thankfully the rain did not appear.
The Antill boys came ready to play and did not seem phased by the winds we dished up, the games were played in the best spirit with us halving the round for 1.5 points each.
3s – Bruce Dominish & Tony Burnett
Looked to have had the toughest Antill opponents, our guys were under the pump for most of the round. With being 2 down after the 15th and with their never say die approach, they took Antill guys to the 18th hole to halve the match. (Special thanks to Gary Kennedy being the walking caddy)
2’s Warren Hogan & James Hughes
It was James’s debut and he did not disappoint (specially with James’s putting was definitely on today) and ably assisted by the experienced Warren leading from the front, these guys leapt to 2 up after the first two holes and never relinquished the lead to win 4 & 3.
1’s – Steve Day (Captain) & Greg Thomson
We had another debutant in Greg playing with our champion Steve, the match was a see sawing match where they were down and then up and down again never more than by 1, the match went right to the last hole and unfortunately luck was not on our side with the guys finishing with a loss of 1 down.
Huge thanks to Glenn Grainger, Merv Danne, Bruce Jennings, Trevor, Rep committee and the rest of the supporters, we really appreciate it. The Antill guys were really amazed with your support especially with spotting to help with the speed of play.
Also to Captain Tony for providing your sound advice in rulings and Deb, your help is never unnoticed.
Next round we are away at Antill Park, after the tightness of these matches today an with our fighting spirit and add in some luck, I am sure we can bring a win away from home this coming Sunday.
Douglas Turnbull – Gibsons Team Manager 2023
