Round 4 of the Simpson Cup was played against Royal Adelaide at Mount Osmond Golf Club. With Craig off hosting the Spring Valley Golf Club, he was brave enough to leave me to manage the team this week.
You can always anticipate a never-give-up attitude when you come up against Royal and today was no different.
With Alex Hendrick out due to work commitments and Darren Baynes back from paternity leave, this resulted in a shuffle to the order from last round.
Number 7 – Darren Baynes
Darren’s match was tight early before he pulled away from his opponent on the 8th hole, finishing with a very strong back nine to win 5&3. I awarded Darren the $100 Player of the Round, as this was a great effort considering he’s not getting any sleep and had not played for four weeks.
Number 6 – Declan Nunn
It was Declan’s second week in the team, and this week we had his proud father out to watch. His match was also tight early, playing against a very experienced opponent. Declan was able to get two up late in the round, but the experience and relentless pressure from his opponent saw him fight back, and they halved the match.
Number 5 – Mark Demasi
Mark never gave his opponent a look in this week. After a rev-up from one of the Spring Valley members on Saturday, Mark was as determined as ever and was four under the card when he won his match 5&4. Mark was very close to taking out the $100 Player of the Round voucher.
Number 4 – Jackson Bugdalski
Jackson this week was playing Billy White, an up-and-coming junior. Jackson went straight into the trees off the tee on the 1st, which is never how you want to start at Mount Osmond, but he regrouped and, once in front, took control of the match, finishing 2&1.
Number 3 – Alan Xin
Backing up from his school formal the night before, Alan got out to a good early lead, turning at the halfway mark three-up. His opponent kept coming, and Alan was one-up going down the 18th. Alan was able to halve the hole and finish his match 1 up. Alan was determined to hold onto his four-from-four win ratio this season. Well played.
Number 2 – Ross Steedman
With Craig having fun hosting the Spring Valley team, he abandoned poor Ross to fend for himself this week. As with other matches, Ross got off to a good start, being two up after nine holes. But, as with all Royal players, they never gave up and kept the pressure on all the way. Ross was all square coming down the 17th, where he found some trouble and went down the 18th one down. On his second shot at the 18th, Ross found himself with another difficult chip to get the ball on the green. A gentle reminder from Dima that he was good enough to get it close saw him do just that, make the birdie putt to win the hole and halve his match.
Number 1 – Blair Christie
With Blair’s strong showing last round, he was given the opportunity to play at number one this week. Blair’s match was close all day. He was down two after 10 and ended his match 3&1 down.
This left us with a 5–2 win on what turned out to be a surprisingly hot day. Congratulations to the team on holding off a fast-finishing opponent. You can see how much this means to you all and how proud you are to play for your club.
Also, a big thank you for letting me keep my 100% win ratio — but Craig, you can have them back.
This week we have a top-of-the-table clash with Tea Tree Gully, who are currently sitting undefeated on top. We would love to see as many of you out supporting us as possible at Kooyonga, teeing off from 8:30am. Why not make a day of it and stay to watch the Sanderson team tee off at 11:00am as well?
Mardi Brown
Assistant Team Manager