THEY have won nine Mount Gambier Golf Club championships between them, but Darren Bilney and Hayden Schroder have surprisingly never met in a final.
That will change this year after they won their way through to the 36-hole decider to be contested next Sunday.
But the clash most expected to eventuate almost did not happen.
While Schroder had little trouble getting past Mitch Handford 4-and-3 last Sunday in the quarter-final and John Gosling 6-and-4 in the semis, Bilney had a much tougher time of it.
He took care of Jason Shanks 5-and-4 in the quarters, but needed the full 18 holes to edge out Joel Mann, eventually prevailing 1-up in the closest match of the day.
Bilney has won five club championships at Attamurra, taking the title in 2009, 2010 and 2013 before winning back-to-back in 2019-20.
He did not play last year, leaving the door open for Schroder to win for the fourth time after he put his name on the trophy in 1999, 2008 and 2012.
Neither player was prepared to predict the winner this year, Bilney simply saying “it’ll be fun”.
Schroder has put in extra practice in recent weeks and shot an impressive seven-under par 65 off the stick in a Sunday round two weeks ago, admittedly off the white tees.
He did say he had struggled to get all the elements of his game working at the same time, admitting he would need them to come together to defend his title next Sunday.
“In the quarter-final I hit the ball well, but didn’t putt that well,” he said.
“Then in the semi-final I putted better.
“I’ve just got to get all of the bits of my game working at the same time.”
In the other grades the top seeds consigned the top qualifiers’ curse to the waste basket, all winning their way through to the final after the last two years saw the No.1 qualifiers all bundled out in the quarter-finals.
In A Reserve it will be No.1 Tony Revill against No. 3 Bryan Pink, after Revill took care of Moryn Sullivan 2-and-1 and defending champion Josh Knowles 4-and-3, while Pink beat Rob Harkness 7-and-6 and Bryce Whicker 4-and-3.
In B Grade, newcomer Matthew McCallum justified his leading qualifier status by beating Darren Keding 1-up and then getting past veteran Ian Ewart 3-and-2 in the semis.
McCallum will take on Jon Clayton in the final after Clayton beat Haydn Dow 1-up in the quarters and then proved too good for Tony McGregor 3-and-2 in the semis.
The C Grade final will be a battle of the youngsters with No.1 qualifier, 14-year-old Zac Shanks, coming against 11-year-old Blake Schroder.
Shanks, who has been in top form in recent weeks, took care of Nic Morony 2-and-1 in the quarters and Peter Emetlis 4-and-3 in the semis, while Schroder was too good for Rob McLellan 6-and-5 before scraping past the big-hitting Asim Cheema 1-up in the semi-finals.
While much of the focus has been on the club championships, the regular Thursday and Saturday competitions have also provided some highlights.
In Saturday’s par round it was Archy Arch who turned in his best round for some time, topping the leaderboard with an impressive +6.
The 11-handicapper set up the win with a brilliant front nine, making the turn at +5 thanks to birdies on the first and seventh holes, plus pars on the second, third, fifth and ninth, with his only blemish a wipe on the par 4 fourth hole.
His back nine was not as good, but +6 was enough to take out A Grade by two shots from Kent Comley who shot +4 to take second on a count-back from Travis Younghusband, Peter Waters and Wayne Elliott.
In B Grade it was Mark Winterfield who finished on +5, one clear of Peter Collie, while C Grade went to Emetlis who signed for a +4, also one clear of visitor Raehana Hokionga from the Ilfracombe Golf Club in Queensland.
Meanwhile last Thursday’s stableford competition was taken out by Richard Gosling who compiled 40 points to finish one ahead of Jeff Olafsen.
Playing off a two handicap, Gosling shot an excellent two-under par 70, which included a 34 on the front nine thanks to birdies on the fifth and seventh holes.
He came home with an even-par 36 on the back, making birdies on the 11th and 14th holes, with bogeys on the 10th and 16th.
Olafsen had a quality one-over par 37 on the front nine despite a double-bogey seven on the first hole.
However, he could not quite match that on the back nine, shooting a 41 which included a birdie on the 15th hole and six bogeys.
