The Growling Frog Golf Club VGL Division 1 Scratch Pennant Champions, from left: Jason Baines, Wayde Barling, Josh Evers, Aaron Delia, Simon Stoker, Luke Audley, Aaron Nolan, Damien Blythe, Warren Hanna.
The Scratch Pennant team completed an eleven year odyssey from our start in the VGL competition in Division 5 in 2007, to the pinnacle of the Division 1 flag in an epic final against Lakeside at Werribee Park on Sunday.
A great team effort, across the whole season, was highlighted by several unbelievable individual performances when the match was on the line. The Final was characteristic of an extremely tight season, where all four teams were capable of winning, and each match came down to the last few holes.
Having said that, this one was something else.
The tie was even for most of the day, with each team up in half of the match-ups at most stages. Josh Evers (5&4) and Aaron Delia (5&4) completed strong wins at the 14th, both displaying the outstanding golf which they had shown throughout the year. Josh in particular was a stand out performer, winning 6 of his 7 contests in a fantastic debut season. And Aaron belied a difficult preparation, returning from two weeks holiday, with no golf, the day before the Final.
Luke Audley (4&3) and Aaron Nolan (5&4) battled hard, but lost their matches. Both had been instrumental in getting us into the Final, Aaron undefeated until Sunday, and Luke's gritty half point, from three down with three to play, in Round 1 which proved to be the key result in our qualification.
2-2 with four pairs still on the course, but only Warren Hanna was up in his match. Jason Baines was staring down the barrel, four down with five to play. Damien Blythe was having a titanic struggle, fighting back after a barrage of birdies had him four down earlier in the day. And, in what appeared to be the pivotal game, Wayde Barling was all square playing the 16th.
When Wayde was eventually defeated, after fighting hard all day, on the 18th (2 down), it seemed like the Final might be slipping away. This feeling was compounded when Warren's opponent holed a miracle bunker shot for birdie to win the 17th and send them down the final hole. Warren was still 1 up, but then fired a booming 3 iron over 230m into a fairway bunker. He hit a nerveless second onto the green, and completed a vital win 1up.
3-3 and everything rested on the shoulders of two men.
Jason had won the 14th, 15th and 16th to be back to 1 down on the Par 3 17th, but found the bunker and faced a tricky shot to a green sloping sharply away from him. He got it to 20ft, and left the par putt a couple of feet below the hole, leaving his opponent a six footer for a par, and the match. He missed, and Jason holed out to extend the game to the final hole. He boomed a drive into the greenside bunker, and his opponent was way back in the fairway, and could not find the green with his second. Jason splashed out, but rolled his first putt past the hole, leaving a tricky 5 footer for par. He holed it to finish an incredible comeback with a vital half. Huge effort.
3.5 - 3.5 and Damien Blythe had fought his way back to all square on the 18th tee, against an opponent who had won all 6 of his matches during the season. Damo ripped a drive up the left side, and his opponent found the left rough, before hitting into the green side bunker. Under enormous pressure, with a downhill lie, Damo flicked a wedge onto the back of the green, and when his opponent left a shot in the bunker he had two putts for the match, and the flag. He lagged the first one up close, and it was all over, 1 up, what a win!
GFGC 4.5 - Lakeside 3.5
Credit to Lakeside, a fantastic team who had won the past seven Division 1 titles back-to-back, an enormous achievement, and who played with class and great spirit.
The Scratch team would like to thank a few people for their efforts on Sunday: 9th man Simon Stoker for his support during the day, after missing out on the final team; Ray Plant who has been a consistent presence for this, and other, years, and was a huge help caddying for Jason in the last few holes; Ken Barbuto, Dave Lazare and Ryan Rogers making the trip out to Werribee as they have done in previous years; and Chris Harvison who caddied for Josh.
Go Frogs!
The Scratch Pennant team completed an eleven year odyssey from our start in the VGL competition in Division 5 in 2007, to the pinnacle of the Division 1 flag in an epic final against Lakeside at Werribee Park on Sunday.
A great team effort, across the whole season, was highlighted by several unbelievable individual performances when the match was on the line. The Final was characteristic of an extremely tight season, where all four teams were capable of winning, and each match came down to the last few holes.
Having said that, this one was something else.
The tie was even for most of the day, with each team up in half of the match-ups at most stages. Josh Evers (5&4) and Aaron Delia (5&4) completed strong wins at the 14th, both displaying the outstanding golf which they had shown throughout the year. Josh in particular was a stand out performer, winning 6 of his 7 contests in a fantastic debut season. And Aaron belied a difficult preparation, returning from two weeks holiday, with no golf, the day before the Final.
Luke Audley (4&3) and Aaron Nolan (5&4) battled hard, but lost their matches. Both had been instrumental in getting us into the Final, Aaron undefeated until Sunday, and Luke's gritty half point, from three down with three to play, in Round 1 which proved to be the key result in our qualification.
2-2 with four pairs still on the course, but only Warren Hanna was up in his match. Jason Baines was staring down the barrel, four down with five to play. Damien Blythe was having a titanic struggle, fighting back after a barrage of birdies had him four down earlier in the day. And, in what appeared to be the pivotal game, Wayde Barling was all square playing the 16th.
When Wayde was eventually defeated, after fighting hard all day, on the 18th (2 down), it seemed like the Final might be slipping away. This feeling was compounded when Warren's opponent holed a miracle bunker shot for birdie to win the 17th and send them down the final hole. Warren was still 1 up, but then fired a booming 3 iron over 230m into a fairway bunker. He hit a nerveless second onto the green, and completed a vital win 1up.
3-3 and everything rested on the shoulders of two men.
Jason had won the 14th, 15th and 16th to be back to 1 down on the Par 3 17th, but found the bunker and faced a tricky shot to a green sloping sharply away from him. He got it to 20ft, and left the par putt a couple of feet below the hole, leaving his opponent a six footer for a par, and the match. He missed, and Jason holed out to extend the game to the final hole. He boomed a drive into the greenside bunker, and his opponent was way back in the fairway, and could not find the green with his second. Jason splashed out, but rolled his first putt past the hole, leaving a tricky 5 footer for par. He holed it to finish an incredible comeback with a vital half. Huge effort.
3.5 - 3.5 and Damien Blythe had fought his way back to all square on the 18th tee, against an opponent who had won all 6 of his matches during the season. Damo ripped a drive up the left side, and his opponent found the left rough, before hitting into the green side bunker. Under enormous pressure, with a downhill lie, Damo flicked a wedge onto the back of the green, and when his opponent left a shot in the bunker he had two putts for the match, and the flag. He lagged the first one up close, and it was all over, 1 up, what a win!
GFGC 4.5 - Lakeside 3.5
Credit to Lakeside, a fantastic team who had won the past seven Division 1 titles back-to-back, an enormous achievement, and who played with class and great spirit.
The Scratch team would like to thank a few people for their efforts on Sunday: 9th man Simon Stoker for his support during the day, after missing out on the final team; Ray Plant who has been a consistent presence for this, and other, years, and was a huge help caddying for Jason in the last few holes; Ken Barbuto, Dave Lazare and Ryan Rogers making the trip out to Werribee as they have done in previous years; and Chris Harvison who caddied for Josh.
Go Frogs!