Simpson Cup – Round 6 The Grange versus The Vines at The Links Lady Bay, 20 June 2021
In Round 6 of the Simpson Cup, The Grange journeyed to The Links Lady Bay to take on The Vines. This was another must-win contest to maintain the team’s position in the top four on the ladder as we move towards the semi-final. The weather was remarkable, blue skies and a zephyr of wind out of the NNE, and the course was in good shape. Play was off the 10th tee and the team, unchanged from the previous outing, was Jamie Smith (C), Ben Layton, Darren Baynes, Ross Steedman, Riley Marshall, Tyson Settre and Mark Demasi.
The Vines have some high calibre players and this was always going to be a hard contest. After 6 holes the team was 1 up in one match, 1 down in four and square in two matches – very tight. At the turn we had slipped to being down in five matches and square in two.
The number 7 match, with Mark playing against Paul Gregory, was all square through the first four holes and Mark lost the Par 4, 15th hole to a birdie to go 1 down. He went 3 down just after the turn (Par 4, 2nd hole), got back to 1 down with two to play but lost the next two holes to finish with a 3/1 loss. At number 6, Tyson was matching it with Tony Nobbs. He was 1 up through 3 holes but back to square through six. He was 2 down after the turn and, with a conceded eagle putt from inside a metre on the Par 5, 7th hole, managed to get his match back to square with two holes to play. However, he could not sustain the fight back and lost 1 down.
Through the first 9 holes Riley, playing at number 5 against Corey Apthorpe, went 1 down for a couple of holes but was playing his trademark quiet, determined golf and was square at the turn. Still square with 4 holes to play he won the Par 4, 5th hole to go 1 up. He then halved the 6th hole, won the Par 5, 7th and halved the Par 3, 8th to win his match 2/1.
Ross, playing Michael Bridgeman at 4, went 1 down on the first hole of his match but he was able to keep it to 1 down through 9 holes. He fought his match back to square after 13 holes (Par 4, 4th) only to lose two holes in succession and be 2 down with three to play. He halved the next two holes but lost his match 2/1. So, we now had three losses and a win in with three matches still in the balance.
Darren, at number 3, was having an arm wrestle against Charlie Nobbs. Throughout the match there was never more than one hole in it but Darren found himself 1 down with three holes to play. He went on to halve the 7th with par, win the 8th with birdie and halve the 9th with par and halve his match, which was a fair outcome for a well contested match.
Playing out of a cart because of a broken big toe and some damaged ligaments on his right foot, Ben was pitted against Jordan Percey at number 2. Paul McDonald was able to caddie for Ben and help reduce the load on the foot. Fortunately, the broken toe had minimal effect on Ben’s ability to swing a golf club and he was 1 up after seven holes and unlucky not to be better than square after 9 holes. In another arm wrestle, Ben was 1 down with three holes to play, won the Par 5, 7th hole to get back to square but could only halve the last two holes and his match.
Jamie, our number 1 player, was against Alex Curtin in another hard-fought match. He was 1 down or square through the first nine holes and turned 2 down. Through 14 holes he was still 1 down, and had never been up in the match, but a 3m putt for birdie on the Par 3, 6th hole gave him the win to square his match with three holes to play. A further birdie on the Par 5, 7th and par on the Par 3, 8th sealed his 2/1 win and gave the team its second for the day. This win was full of grit and calm under pressure and, in the process, Jamie gave a short-game masterclass. Whether it was his chip to 40cm over the bunker on the right-hand side of 5 green to save par and halve the hole, or his chip to inside 3m over the mound on the left-hand side of the Par 5, 7th green to make birdie and win the hole or many other up-and-downs, they were all of the highest quality.
So, the results were Jamie won 2/1, Ben and Darren halved their matches, Ross lost 2/1, Riley won 2/1, Tyson lost 1 down and Mark lost 3/1 for an overall 4/3 loss. This was a disappointing result which puts us fifth on the ladder and makes a semi-final place difficult to achieve.
Thanks to caddies Jeff Green, Paul McDonald and John Windsor. Thanks also to David Thompson and Roger Baynes who came out to watch and support the team.
The final round of the regular Simpson Cup competition is on The Grange East Course this Sunday and The Grange will be taking on Thaxted Park from 11:15am on the 1st tee in a contest we must win well to keep our semi-final hopes alive. Caddies and gallery welcome. Come out and see our elite players in action!
John Thomas
Captain and Simpson Cup Team Manager
Bonnar Cup Report – Round 6 June 20th
Round 6 of Bonnar Cup was a very important round for Grange, third on the ladder, playing Regency Park at Tea Tree Gully. A win would secure a spot in the finals. Again the weather was excellent for golf, cool but almost no breeze at Tea Tree Gully, which was presented in very good condition.
Ryan Bak led us out this week at number 7. A magnificent drive down the sloping 10th fairway, our first hole, was a sign of good things to come. Ryan told me he has never driven the ball so straight, thanks to a quick lesson from Warren Mercer at practice last week. There was never much in the match and Ryan turned 1 up. His opponent then put together a string of 4 birdies while Ryan only had two. So 1 down after 14. However Ryan stuck to the task and won the match 2 and 1.
Alex Nitschke played at number 6 this week. He got away to a great start and was 2 up after 3 holes and proceeded to play some extremely good golf. I did not see much of Alex around the course but he told me he was in form and hitting the ball really well. That showed in the result, six up after nine and he went on to a very good win, 7 and 5.
Nick Oborn drew the short straw at number 5 this week, the result of some messing around with the order to outwit Regency’s messing around with the order. It ended with Nick playing what would normally be there best player. He did tell me it took him six holes to find a fairway but even so was only 2 down after 7 holes. Unfortunately things got really tough from there and he ended up losing 6 and 5.
Ryan Sugars played at number 4 this week. Ryan has been playing well and Sunday was no exception. He was 5 up after 8, but a loss on hole 18 saw him turn 4 up. From then on he really got stuck into the job and had a very good win, 7 and 5.
Captain Tim Cece playing at number 3 was involved in a very good match with Simon Keane, a fellow Grange member playing pennants at Regency Park. The match was very even all day with never more than one in it and Tim was 1 down after 9. That changed quickly and he won the next two before losing the par 3 twelfth, where Simon hit a great shot to about 4 metres below the hole. A win on 14 and loss on 15, so still square. Now the whole team was following and urging him on. A great fairway bunker shot saw him win 16 and then a half on 17 meant he was 1 up going down the last. A poor drive, but sensational 3 wood to the back of the green was good enough for a 2 up win.
Matthew Wilson played at number 2 and also got off to a great start winning the first two holes. The first nine was then very even and most holes halved with Matthew 3 up after 9. Again he played very solid golf to go on to a comfortable 6 and 4 win.
This week Nick Siegmund was a welcome addition to the side playing at number 1. A booming drive down the tenth and he was off to a great start. He was not quite as straight after that but was 3 up after 3 and 5 up after 9. He continued to play excellent golf going on to record an excellent 7 and 6 win.
A great result for Grange, 6 wins to 1, which consolidates our position in either second or third on the ladder. This week at practice we may need to look at chipping uphill and how to avoid having the ball run back to your feet. This was an unfortunate occurrence for a number of the team on the 18th hole. Other than that, some exceptional golf and very good wins. A sincere thank you to the caddies and the whole team who supported Captain Tim as he played all 18 holes. This week we play Blackwood at North Adelaide, hitting off in fours at 11.30am.
Kym Linke
Team Manager