Round 3 saw the undefeated Bonnar Team head to Royal Adelaide bright and early for an 8:30am tee off versus Kooyonga.
Despite a poor start to the year for Kooyonga the lads knew they would be no push over.
Two changes to the team this week with both Ryan Sugars and Steve Berridge out of action. Dave Humphries and Cory Baker were promoted with a well earned call up.
Tim Cece who was to play a part in playing today also had to take the reigns of Manager with Kym Linke off on a weekend away with none other than Club Captain and Simpson Cup manager John Thomas. Lets hope they sprung for the two bedroom suite.
Jackson Szyszlak led us off at number 7 with a perfect drive.
He had his match under control all day (from what I heard) and the next time I saw Jackson was on the back of the thirteenth hole having finished his match early. Another solid victory for Jackson 6 and 4.
At number 6 this week was our debutant Dave Humphries.
Dave has been playing very solid golf and came up against a solid Match Play opponent in Matt Ormsby. With the match tied after three holes Dave went on the attack and was 4 up through ten holes. A brief fight back was fought off by Dave and a birdie on 15 and a strong up and down par on 16 was enough to finish the match 4 and 2. Huge first victory for Dave and saw two early games in the Clubhouse for The Grange.
At 5 this week was Cory Baker. His first round this year but certainly not his first for the Grange having played plenty of Bonnar Cup and Simpson cup previously. In his own words he started poorly for the first few holes but settled to find himself 3 down at the turn. He started playing the golf we know he can and managed to get back to square but unable to get a lead then conceded with a bogey on 17 to lose the match down 18 1 down.
Craig Brown promoted to 4 in the lineup has had a great start to the year. Craig started well and the match was all square after 6 with both players even with the card. Craig then lost 7, 9 and 11 to find himself 3 down. He squared 12 and 13 after having a ball ricocheting back 40m from what looked like a perfect drive. Craig proceeded to win, 14, 15 and 16 to be all square again. An aggressive putt on a down hill very quick green cost him 17. Craig then parred the last to win 18 making the match score all square. A great result and fight back.
Captain and Manager for the day Tim Cece went in at 3 and after a solid first 5 holes was 1 up. A sloppy 6th, 8th and 9th hole meant all of a sudden he rounded the turn 1 down. An unlucky plugged lie in the bunker on 11 saw him go 2 down. The match turned around on 13 when Tim’s opponent found the trees left from the tee while Tim found the fairway. With 145 in he managed to hole out for eagle (to rapturous applause as you can imagine) and got back to 1 down. From then on the match was one way traffic with Tim winning 3 of the next 4 holes with tee to green golf to close out with a solid par on a tough 17 to finish the match 2 and 1 up.
3.5 points in at this stage….
Alex Nitschke at 2 started well but found himself 1 down through 3. He managed to settle into the match and with some solid golf was 2 up through 9. With his opponent also rallying Alex then found himself 2 down through 14 after 4 consecutive bogeys but in true fighting Grange spirit he found that little bit extra. With Jackson now on the bag and calming Alex nicely he went on to win 15, halve 17 and win 18 with very strong play in front of an anxious gallery. The nerves settled though thanks to the calming influence of Team Captain and Manager Tim Cece when he informed everyone that Alex’s point put enough in the Clubhouse for a strong Grange win. A very well earned half a point for Alex proving, at the time very valuable indeed.
The Godfather of Pennant Matt Wilson went in at 1 this week yet again. Matt started scratchy losing the first and having to make 2 up and downs from 100m for par in the first 6 holes to halve them, the best coming at the par 4 4th where his drive hit centre stump of a tree next to the tee block and ended up on the women’s tee approx 40m away. A precise 3 wood and gap wedge approach and good putt for the half gave him enough momentum to turn things around and be 2 up through 9. It was a close match all day but Matt’s steady golf when needed was enough to keep that lead through the second 9 making a comfortable par up the last to secure a 2up win.
The final result was a huge victory to the Grange 5 and 2.
Huge thanks to the Caddies that came out for the day (whose names escape me I’m afraid).
Special thanks to Royal Adelaide Golf Club for the Muffins and Fruit on the first tee. The Chocolate Brownies made another appearance from Carly Brown and as usual were incredibly well received. Carly please keep up the great work. Please.
Next week The Grange take on North Adelaide at Kooyonga. If anyone fancies a walk through the exclusive gates over there at Kooyie this would be a great opportunity to breeze past the guards.
Until next week.
Over and Out.
Tim Cece