Grange v Royal Adelaide at North Adelaide Golf Links – 8th May 2022
The first match of the 2022 season was against Royal Adelaide, newly promoted to Bonnar Cup after their success in B2 last year. Apart from the greens, which had some renovation work after the recent Blitz Golf event, the course was in good condition and we were looking forward to the challenge. In the absence of Captain Tim Cece, who had just returned from overseas, Matt Wilson took the responsibility of Captain and the toss for honour, which Royal Adelaide won.
First out for the season was Hudson Brown with Mother Mardi as caddy. Hudson looked very calm and relaxed for his first game of Bonnar as he played Matthew Burke. His drive down the first was magnificent and set him up for a good day. After 2 holes he was 2 up and on his way. I heard that he was 4 up after 4 and only caught up with him on 9 to see him chip in for par to take the hole and the lead at 6 up. The match finished on 12 with a 7 and 6 victory. A very impressive debut by Hudson who is still eligible to play juniors. He did tell me he was 1 under the card for the 12 holes played.
Jackson Szyszlak was also playing his first game of Bonnar and went out at number 6, against Sam McLean. Jackson did not have it quite as easy as Hudson and a few wayward drives saw him 2 down after 6. However he stuck to the task and started to find some fairways. He won the next three holes and turned 1 up. The next two holes were halved but a tee shot to the middle of the green on the par 3 twelfth resulted in another win for 2 up. He eventually won 3 and 2. Another solid debut from Jackson who has only just moved up from Sharp Cup.
Ryan Sugars, a member of the successful 2021 side, went out at number 5 the position he played with much success last year. Ryan was involved in a very close match against Troy Boswell, where there was never more than a hole in it one way or the other. After 9 Ryan was 1 down but a win at 10 got him back to square. I caught up with him again at 17, match still square, to see a great drive to the middle of the dogleg put him in excellent position. As it turned out 2 chips and one putt was good enough after his opponent 3 putted. Eighteen was never in doubt after a solid drive and second to about 3 metres for an eventual 2 up win. Another very solid performance in a close match.
Craig Brown was also a new addition to the side and took the number 4 spot. He had Todd Finney as caddy operating the controls on the remote. Craig was also involved in a very close match with never more than a hole in it either way. After 9 he was one down and at 13, 2 down. A win on 14 and then an excellent drive down 15 set up another win to get the match back to square. Both Craig and his opponent, Sam Medlin, were short of the green on 16 but Craig managed to win that as well. On the dogleg seventeenth both players were in good position in the middle of the dogleg. Craig then produced the shot of the day with a six iron to inside a metre. Sam missed left but then just missed holing his chip for a conceded 4. Craig duly sank the putt for an excellent first up win, 2 and 1.
Alex Nitschke, another member of the successful 2021 side, got his chance at number 3 having played most of last year at number 4. Alex does not miss too many fairways and this is always an advantage at the tree lined North Adelaide. The first 6 holes were fairly even but then Alex’s opponent, Jack Sullivan, could not match his fairways and greens mantra. Alex turned 3 up and was hitting some great iron shots to greens which his opponent could not match. He eventually won 5 and 4 for a great start to his season.
Steve Berridge in a return to pennant, but his first for Grange, played at number 2 against Jonathon Cherry. He did not get off to the best start and was 2 down after 2. A great drive down 3 and an iron shot to a few metres gave him a great opportunity to get back into the match. However his birdie putt slid past which resulted in a half. He stuck at it all day and turned still 2 down. A great up and down on the par 3 twelfth and still 2 down until a poor second shot on 13 saw him go 3 down. Eventually Jonathon won the match 3 and 2.
Matthew Wilson played at number 2 for most of last year but got the chance at number 1 on Sunday with Cory Baker as his caddy. Matt took the role of acting captain seriously and got straight to work, 1 up after 2 and playing solid golf was 2 up after 9. I saw a fair bit of Matt’s round and he was very solid tee to green and eventually got to 4 up with 4 to play. His opponent, Jed Ballard, who was struggling with the driver for most of the day did manage to win the next two holes before a half at seventeen saw Matt with a 2 and one victory.
Although the final result was 6 matches to one, the contest was much closer than that as at half way we were leading in four matches and 5 of them were very close either way. However an excellent victory. Thanks to caddies Mardi, Todd and Cory and to Michael Szyszlak for coming out to support. Special thanks to Carly Brown for making the brownies for the team.
Next week we play Glenelg at Blackwood off the 10th tee at 11.15am. This will be a re-match of last year’s final.
Kym Linke
Team Manager