THE final round of the Golf South East Pennant season had a number of possible outcomes, giving more than half the field a chance to earn a semi-final berth.
Played in surprisingly dry and mostly sunny conditions, Mount Gambier hosted the minor round decider.
Both conferences were open, but in the end, Millicent and Naracoorte finished on top to earn a finals berth, while Mount Gambier Red finished second in both conferences to also make the list.
Conference 1 was set up for a great finish with five teams vying for two spots.
Mount Gambier Red was sitting fifth and needed a good win to be a chance to leap frog three other teams.
They were off to a good start in the match with Moryn Sullivan winning 7/5 after a stunning round where he was only two-over after 13 holes off of a 14 handicap.
Jack Jennings, Hayden Schroeder and Mike Cutting all won 4/2 to take the match, while Paul Harmer had a solid 5/4 win to be best for the Rosellas.
Mount Gambier Black and Blue Lake were tied on 25 points prior to this match and needed to win the same or better than Mount Gambier Red to qualify.
Anthony Williams helped Blue Lake with a 5/4 win, but unfortunately the rest of the team could only muster up two wins to fall one match short.
Nic Clayton and Pat O’Donnell were the best for the black team.
With the match locked at 3-3, Jason Mann won on the 18th and while it was enough to win the match, it was one point short of their clubmates.
Millicent led the conference prior to the match and only needed a few points to make the final.
In a tight game with Southern Ports, they went down 4/3 but did enough to finish on top.
Southern Ports went through the season with every match finishing 4/3 and only needed to flip one result to be in the semi-finals.
Jacko Naude had a good 6/4 win, well supported by Craig Sunderland, Robbie Chappel and Gordon Fleming.
For Millicent, young guns Harry Coote and Liam Chant both had good wins at number 1 and 2, but it was not enough for the win.
The ladder finished tight, with only seven points separating the six top teams.
Millicent finished with 35 points, Mount Gambier Red 33, Mount Gambier Black 32 – despite winning one more match than the two teams above it.
Not far behind was Blue Lake and Southern Ports on 30 points.
In Conference 2, Naracoorte exerted its dominance with a strong 6/1 win over Kingston.
Michael Zerk, Henry Norcock and Josh Pettman all had solid wins, while Dwayne Bastiaans was the sole winner for Kingston.
Naracoorte look in ominous form having only lost five games and a good balanced lineup.
Mount Gambier Black finished the season strongly and snuffed out any slight chance Blue Lake had on making the finals with a close 4/3 win.
Adrian Ballantyne and Mitch Handford were the pick of the winners, while the ever-reliable Dan Christian and Bryce Perryman were the pick of Blue Lake team.
The final spot was to be decided between Mount Gambier Red and Lucindale.
In an even contest Mount Gambier Red got up thanks to Joel Mann’s win on the 18th against Brad Beaumont.
Hayden Cook bounced back from a shellacking last week to have a strong 7/5 win.
Craig Wirth was another notable winner with his 5/3 win.
For Lucindale, Bill Lively was the best performed, winning 6/4, supported by Brad Hocking who finished 3/1 up.
Naracoorte finished on top of the table with 41 points, with Mount Gambier Red finishing second on 37.
Lucindale and Blue Lake were other notables on 31 points.
The finals will be held at Kingston Golf Club on August 1.
Semi-final 1: Naracoorte v Mount Gambier Red (Conference 1).
Semi-final 2: Millicent v Mount Gambier Red (Conference 2).
At the end of the matches on Sunday, the Pennant team of the year was announced from each Conference and were presented with commemorative Golf SE team of the year Coonawara Cabernet.
Conference 1: D. Bilney (Port MacDonnell); J. Mann (Mount Gambier Black); M. Cutting (Mount Gambier Red); K. Ransom (Blue Lake); L. Chant (Millicent); A. Stark (Port MacDonnell); C. Evans (Penola).
Conference 2: J. Norcock (Naracoorte); H. Cook (Mount Gambier Red); S. Letizia (Mount Gambier Red); D. Christian (Blue Lake); R. Pridmore (Naracoorte); J. Edwards (Naracoorte); D. Bastiaans (Kingston).
RESULTS
Conference 1: Mount Gambier Red 5 d Penola 2 (H. Schroder d G. Kidman 4/2, M. Cutting d C. Evans 4/2, P. Reade d G. Hutchesson 2/1, D. Griffin l/t P. Harmer 5/4, M. Sullivan d T. Gleeson 7/5, M. Bowering l/t L. Price 3/1, J. Jennings d A. Hutchesson 4/2).
Southern Ports 4 d Millicent 3 (J. Nunan l/t H. Coote 4/2, M. Chambers l/t L. Chant 4/3, C. Sunderland d S. Coote 1/up, J. Naude d A. Ferguson 6/4, R. Chappel d A. Driessen 2/11, G. Flemming d S. Beggs 1-up, K. Otton l/t S. Westerman 3/2).
Mount Gambier Black 4 d Blue Lake 3 (S. Fiegert l/t A. Williams 5/4, P. O’Donnell d T. Little 3/2, M. Knowles l/t T. Smith 1-up, J. Clements l/t C. Ferguson 2/1, J. Mann d G. Cooper 1-up, N. Clayton d K. Ransom 5/4, M. Rookas d F. Knight 1-up).
Conference 2: Mount Gambier Black 4 d Blue Lake 3 (S. Shanahan l/t D. Christian 3/2, M. Harnford d M. DeDonatis 4/3, J. Hodge d A. Stephenson 2/1, A. Ballintyne d S. Easterbrook 6/5, A. Arch d B. Morale 1-up, D. Boyce l/t B. Perryman 3/2, B. Whicker l/t C. Harvey 20th).
Mount Gambier Red 4 d Lucindale 3 (J. Mann d B. Beaumont 1-up, H. Cook d S. Rivett 7/6, S. Letizia l/t B. Hocking 3/, C. Wirth d P. Justin 5/3, B. Letizia l/t K. Bates 2-up, P. Pace d E. Pitt 2/1, J. Miles l/t B. Lively 6/4).
Naracoorte 6 d Kingston 1 (J. Norcock d M. Angel 4/2, M. Zerk d J. Steele 6/5, H. Norcock d P. Zacker 5/4, L. Bald d G. Downing 1-up, R. Pridmore l/t D. Bastiaans 3/2, J. Pettman d M. Collins 6/4, J. Edwards d L Cox 2/1).
MORE GOLF PAGES 58-59
