19th June 2022 – Grange v Tea Tree Gully at Kooyonga
Round 5 of Simpson Cup saw The Grange playing Tea Tree Gully at Kooyonga. The course was well presented but a cold north east wind made playing (and watching) tough. A win would guarantee our position in the top four and a semi-final berth. A lot of worry and soul-searching went in to team selection this week but this was largely undone when number one player, Alex Hendrick, took ill on Saturday night and was unable to play. The team was Steve Maddaford, Ross Steedman, Darren Baynes, Riley Marshall, Matthew Wilson, Nick Siegmund, and Mark Demasi (C). The Grange won the toss and had the honour off the 1st tee at 11:30am.
Captain Mark and his opponent, Jason Mylroie, got the contest started and both found the fairway bunker on the Par 5, 1st hole. Mark was 2 down at the turn, 3 down through 13 holes and lost the 14th to be 4 down with 4 to play. With good wins on 15, 16 and 17, he was back to 1 down on the 18th tee. He blocked his drive out into the small trees left of the 13th green and his opponent found the fairway bunker but generously took three shots to get out of it. This gave Mark the opportunity to win the hole and halve his match.
Nick, with Liam Georgiadis on the bag, played against Ben Hallam. After being 1 up or square through most of the front 9, Nick turned 1 down. Back to 1 up through 12 holes, his approach shot found the right green-side bunker on 13 and he lost the hole to be back to square. Still square after 16 holes, he won the 17th and was 1 up on the 18th tee. Very sensibly, Nick played an iron off the tee and finished in the middle of the fairway with a comfortable shot into the green. His opponent took driver off the tee, pulled it hard into the trees on the left and was eventually on the green for 4 (or was it 5?). Nick won the hole and his match 2 up.
Matt Wilson, with partner Sam as caddy, was paired against Grant Debais. True to form, Matt was 2 up through 3 holes and 5 up after 9. He was back to 4 up through 12 holes, halved the next two and then won the 15th hole to win his match 5/3. Matt was never down in his match.
Riley with caddy Ron was up against Nick May. He was square through 5 holes but lost the 6th to go 1 down. Wins on 7 and 8 had him 1 up at the turn and he was able to consolidate his lead to be 2 up through the 13th hole, 3 up through the 15th and close out his match 3/2 on the 16th for another solid win. It was fortunate that Ron was on hand because a couple of times when we caught up with Riley he was not sure whether he was square or a couple up but Ron was able to clarify. Riley was clearly focussed on the golf!
Fresh from a mid-season break in Fiji, Darren, with caddy Jeff, was playing Adam Somerfield in a match where Darren’s ability and temperament ensured he was never threatened. Darren was 2 up after three holes when his approach shot on the Par-4, 4th hole finished in the fescue on the right edge of the right green-side bunker. With a difficult stance, a tough lie and little green to work with, he threw up a beautiful lob-wedge across the bunker and stopped the ball about 3 metres from the hole. He then holed the putt for par! Unfortunately, his opponent holed his putt for birdie and won the hole but Darren won the next hole to be back to 2 up and then won 7, 8 and 9 to be 5 up at the turn. Darren stayed 5 up through 11 holes and closed his match out with a 6/5 win on the 13th hole.
Ross, with the help of caddy Jamie Smith, played solid golf against young Sean Park. He lost the first hole to be 1 down but was never headed after that. Back to square after 2 holes and 3 up through 6, Ross was 4 up through 9 holes. The Manager was a touch nervous when Ross was back to 2 up through 14 holes but wins on 15 and 16 gave him a 4/2 victory and the team its fifth win of the day.
Steve had the tough assignment of Chris Austin, a standout player of the Tea Tree Gully team for many years. Steve had the early ascendancy getting to 2 up through 4 holes and being all square after 9. The pair were still square through 11 holes and Steve found himself 1 down after leaving it in the bunker on the Par-3, 14th hole. On the Par-3, 15th Steve chipped to within half a metre of the hole and walked away with a par and a win to go back to square. On the Par-5, 16th hole Steve’s second shot finished in the trees short of the 18th tee area and he was able to punch it out to short of the green. Meanwhile, Austin’s second shot was resting in a garden bed in the main car park. After getting relief from a concrete surround, Austin played from the garden through the trees, over the green and his ball finished in a tree to the left of the green. A baseball shot and a clunky chip later had Austin still 3 metres from the hole. Steve chipped up to 30cm, holed his putt for par to win the hole and was 1 up with 2 to play. On the Par-4, 17th hole Steve’s drive missed the fairway right and Austin’s was ~50m short of the green. Steve made a good par but Austin birdied to win the hole and square the match up. On the 18th hole Austin’s drive found the fairway bunker and Steve, who had hit an iron off the tee, was in the middle of the fairway back from the bunkers. Steve’s second shot finished right of the green-side bunkers near the practice green. Austin’s second shot finished 30 cm from the pin. Austin made birdie to win the hole and the match.
So, the results were Steve lost 1 down, Ross won 4/2, Darren won 6/5, Riley won 3/2, Matthew won 5/3, Nick won 2up, and Mark halved his match. This gave the team a 5½:1½ win and was a strong result against a quality team. The Grange is now in second place on the table and will be in the semi-finals.
Thanks to caddies Jamie Smith, Jeff Green, Ron Marshall, Sam (Matthew’s partner) and Liam Georgiadis. Thanks also to Paul McDonald for his help managing the team.
Also, thanks to our gallery of Ian McPhee, Paul and Lesley Smith, Kyla Dolman and friend Lauren, Nick Cheary, David Schirripa and Michael Siegmund. It was good to see supporters out braving the cold and wind to see our great team in action.
Next Sunday, June 26, The Grange takes on top-of-the-table Kooyonga at Royal Adelaide from 8:25am on the 1st tee. Caddies and gallery welcome.
John Thomas
Captain and Simpson Cup Team Manager