Club champs quarter-finals October 9, 2021

There were heroics and heartache aplenty as the quarter-finals of club champs were played on Saturday (Oct 9) in warm and breezy conditions on a course softened by a week of rain.

Jasper Broad-Kolff caused a minor upset by defeating last year’s senior champion Dean Goodman 4/3 in the only match in that division. The big-hitting Jasper got off to a fast start by going three up after four holes, helped by a birdie on No 2. They then traded holes to the turn before Jasper took a stranglehold by winning No 10 and 11. Dean – who was returning from injury – won No 12 with a par only for Jasper to return fire on No 13. Although, he lost No 14, a half on No 15 was good enough to secure victory.

Top intermediate seed Richard Pearson cantered to a 8/7 win over an out-of-sorts Jonathan Tuheke who won a couple of par threes but lost every other hole to his very steady opponent.

Dave Blake – the number two qualifier – had a much tougher time against Steve Russell who was two up after nine before Dave roared back into contention by winning thee of the next four holes. They went tit for tat over the next four with Dave one up going to the testing 18th which he protected with a bogey .

No 3 seed Maurice Woodhouse suffered the chipping blues in going down 6/5 against his good mate and defending champion Paul Tunnicliff. Despite winning No 2, Maurice soon found himself well behind as Paul went about his business with his usual efficiency. Six up at the halfway mark, Paul snuffed out any thoughts of a comeback with a birdie at No 11 before the match ended early two holes later.

In the final intermediate match, Lindsay Brooks took control from the get-go by winning the first five holes against Aaron Kotua with some solid play. Aaron showed some ticker on the back nine by winning four of six holes but Lindsay stayed comfortably in front by winning the other two before closing it out on No 16 for a 4/2 victory.

In a Junior A midweek match, the curse of the top seed losing to the eighth qualifier struck Paul McCrae who lost at the final hole to an inspired Warren Carey in a match where both played to their handicaps. Paul – who had earlier won the C & F Legal Stroke on the way to qualifiying – was two down early before winning three holes on the trot to lead by one after 10. However, Wazza refused to break and his powerful driving saw him nudge ahead at the 16th only for Paul to tie it up again at the 17th. Wazza claimed the win with a bogey at the last after Paul thinned a wedge long.

Neil McLaren confirmed his No 2 seeding with a comfortable  4/3 win over Ian Hanford. One up after the front nine, Neil put the hammer down early on the back side with a couple of pars to cruise home. Ian suffered the misfortune of playing a wrong ball which didn’t help his cause.

The battle between Bryan Ramsey and Callum Hogg went to the 19th before a winner was found. Bryan was one up early before Callum won four on the trot to seize control  before he imploded on No 8 and 9 to go to the turn just one ahead. A birdie on No 14 got Bryan back to all square. Two halves followed before Callum edged ahead again on No 17 only for Bryan to tie it up again on No 18. A calamitous three-putt at the first extra hole by Bryan gifted Callum the game. The final Junior A tie between Lewis Wilson and Warwick King is to be played during the week.

In one of the two Junior B matches, Jim McMullan came from two down after 10 holes against Roma Elkington to secure his place in the semis. Jim got back into contention by winning three of the next five holes before Roma squared it up on No 16. However, Jim got his nose back in front on No 17 and then bogeyed the last for a 2-up result.

On Sunday Alan Church and Steve Turnell played another cracker before Steve prevailed at the 19th. Alan went to the turn 2-up but Steve won three in a row on the back nine to nudge in front. Alan had regained a narrow lead going to the last but Steve played a couple of beauties to take the hole. On the 19th Steve looked like he had blown it when he put his drive in the river but he played a marvellous 7 iron from 150m to tap in range for a six. Meanwhile, Alan was short of the green in four before thinning his chip over the green and couldn’t get up and down to prolong the match.

In next week’s senior semi-finals Andy Isle plays Jasper Broad-Kolff while Peter Watson takes on Peter Green. In the intermediates, Richard Pearson goes up against Paul Tunnicliff and Dave Blake and Lindsay Brooks do battle.

Warren Carey and Callum Hogg lock horns in one Junior A match, while Neil McLaren will play either Lewis Wilson or Warwick King. In the Junior B division, Mike Murphy verses Steve Turnell and Grant Fergusson plays Jim McMullan.

In the match of the day – a par round - on Saturday, Mike Murphy made no race of it with a +4 score to take the honours. Next were Warwick King (-2) and  Peter Green (-3).