Men’s Major Pennants Round 5 Report
Posted on: 3 March
Men’s Metropolitan Major Pennant 2023 Report – Round 5 vs Long Reef at Stonecutters
With just two rounds to go in the regular season the team faced our final opponent, Long Reef, at home on Sunday. The Stonecutters group were focused on maintaining our strong home form and securing our position at the top of section 2 and a semi-final spot with a home win. Long Reef, as the only team that could catch us, needed an away win so they came ready to play.
This week we again had a Junior Development match with Jackson Northey looking for his first win of the season. Jackson with Cooper Ison on the bag started slowly and by the 5th tee found himself 3 down. Jackson rallied well over the next 9 holes of the match slowly pulling in his opponent, Lennox Cleary, to be all square after 13. After halving 14, Lennox won 15 to go back to one up and Jackson rallied with a win on 16 to again get back to square. Lennox countered winning 17, however Jackson would not be denied and again fought back to win 18 to secure a half. A great fighting effort by both juniors in a see sawing affair which was exciting to watch.
At reserve Daniel Beattie, ably assisted by Steve Wilde, starting strongly winning 1,2 and 3 followed by 5 to be 4 up early. Dan Baldichino from Long Reef mounted a swift retort winning 6 and 7 to reduce the lead to 2 up, however, Daniel countered immediately winning 8,9 and 10 to build an impressive 5 up lead playing 11. Daniel played steadily over the remaining holes to close out his match 5/4 and secure his second win of the season, following on from his great win at Camden last week.
Daniel Williams, with Les Skzirpan on the bag, led us away at 7 and was very much in control of his match by the 12th tee leading 3 up. A loss, to opponent Harry McKerihan, on 12 saw the match back to 2 up but wins on 14 and 15 saw ‘Chunkster’ close his match out 4/3 and put Stonecutters off to a good start for the day.
At 6 Jacob Carpenter, assisted by the experienced Justin Field, started the day in a somewhat lack lustre fashion losing the first 2 holes. However, showing his fighting spirit yet again, Jacob went on a 5 hole winning streak, turning the match on its head by the 8th tee. Further wins on 10 and 12 saw Jacob dormie 6 playing 13, however, his opponent was not yet done. Ryan Farrell, steadied winning 13, 14 and 15 raising hopes within the Long Reef camp of a stunning comeback half. Jacob steadied, maintaining his composure calmy, winning 16 to close out the match 4/2, and securing an undefeated record at home in his first rep season and giving Stonecutters an early two match lead.
Ryan Cadle at 5, with Allan Ison on the bag, started solidly turning 3 up and after winning 11 stood 4 up on the 12th tee. His opponent Cam Gillespie, then mounted another solid comeback for the away team winning 12, 13, 14 and 16 to sq the match. On 17 Ryan regained the lead one up, however an unlucky tee shot on 18 saw his Cam draw level for the final time and earning Long Reef their first points of the afternoon. Stonecutters 2.5 Long Reef 0.5.
At 4 Darcy Mackay come up against Kristian Hooker and the Long Reef no 4 was putting the lights out early building a 2 up lead by the 6th hole that he maintained until Darcy hit back winning both 10 and 12 to level the match. With caddy Keegan Naidoo in full support, Darcy put the foot down and won 14 and 15 for a 2 hole lead that he converted on 17 to with 3/1. A very high quality match with both players deep into the red and another strong scalp for our young gun saw us led 3.5 to 1.5 with just 3 matches left on course.
Ryan Suckling at 3, with Mark Cadle on the bag, was eclipsed early by his opponent Luke Shahmatov and found himself 3 down after 6. A good win on 8 was following by another two losses on 9 and 10 to see Ryan 4 down with just 8 holes too play. A daunting task but not one that was insurmountable. Wins by Ryan on 11, 13, 16 and 17 drew the match level and they stood on the 18th with the momentum back in Stonecutters favour. Two great drives saw the pair with short iron approaches but unfortunately for Ryan, his approach found the back left bunker. After Luke’s two putt Ryan was left with a solid 6m putt to halve the match and unfortunately his putt slipped by given Long Reef their first full point of the day. Stonecutters 3.5 Long Reef 2.5.
Team captain, Harrison Wilde at 2 was engaged in a tight tussle from the word go with Luke Edgell. By the turn the visitor had eked out a 1 hole lead that Harry clawed back to square on 12 and then went on to win 13 and 15 to hold a two lead with 3 to play. Unfortunately, 3 putts on both 16 and arguably on 17 saw the lead reduced to 1 up with one to play. With Caddy Matt Horton guiding, Harry hit a solid approach to 18 only to see his opponent hit a magnificent approach to just 4 feet and convert the birdie to secure a last-minute comeback halve. The half was enough to see Stonecutters across the line 4 to 2.5 with just the one match remaining.
Kade Webber, with Brent Young on the bag was 1 down early against Long Reef and state squad member Chun-ta Wu birdied the 1st. Kade quickly recover by winning 2 and despite winning 4 was back to square after 8. Chun-Ta then won 9 and 11 to build a 2 shot lead that Kade got back to one on 13. Despite his best efforts Kade could not close the gap any further and Chun-Ta then rolled in a tricky birdie putt on 17 to secure the point for the visitors.
Final Result – Stonecutters 4 Long Reef 3.
The win secured Stonecutters the section win and our 2nd semi-final appearance in 3 years. Our first goal, identified by the group in December, has been achieved with a chance to compete for both promotion to Division 1 and the 2023 Pennant. Now the hard work really begins and with the continued support of our members we have high hopes of success in the coming weeks.
In any team event not all players in the squad get to play every week, however, they contribute greatly to the team and the success of the team by their hard work and dedication to the club, their golf games and their teammates. A special shout out to Ray Costello who has worked so hard and contributed so much to the group already this season. Whilst not yet getting a game in the playing 7, Ray has made a significant contribution to the group and has played a big part in the success of the group so far this season.
Image below .. a great sunrise at Stonecutters greeting to players for our final home match of 2023
