Lake Karrinyup claimed the GolfWA Men’s Pennants Division 1 title for just the fourth time in the event’s history on a sensational day of golf at Royal Fremantle on Sunday.
Despite losing to fellow finalists Royal Perth in the final round of group matches last weekend, Lake Karrinyup’s lineup (pictured above) rose to the occasion when it mattered most to strongarm their way to the Division 1 title.
With matches played over 36 holes, Frazer Bone, Travis Temm and Matt Bowra put the first three points on the board for Karrinyup, and when Rhys Cook fought back to pip Spencer Harrison 1UP, the pennants crown was in the bag for Karrinyup for the first time since 2019. Ryan Gault’s win over Aiden Hassan added further gloss to the scoreline.
Corley McLernon did post a consolation win for Royal Perth (6&5 over Nick Curnow), while Jordan Jung and Simon Liddell halved a high-quality encounter in the number one match to give Karrinyup a 5.5-1.5 margin of victory.
Royal Freo also hosted the Division 2 and 3 finals, which featured their own fair share of magical moments and outstanding individual performances.
Rockingham were buoyed by Shaun Malone’s (5th from right) amazing 15&13 win
In Division 2, Rockingham’s Shaun Malone put in one of the great performances in recent pennants’ history to dominate his match over Gosnells’ Tipene Edwards en route to posting a 15&13 win.
Comfortable wins for Rockingham’s Shaun Cameron and Damien Schoppe, as well as a narrow victory for Harley Snelson in match 7, steered the southwest team over the line, their 4.5-2.5 win earning them a deserved promotion to the top division for 2024.
The Division 3 final between Meadow Springs and Seaview wasn’t short on fireworks either, with Meadow Springs’ Isaac Mitchell achieving that rarest of birds – an albatross – during his clash with Adam Kon-Yu. Although Mitchell would ultimately lose his match 7&6, his 2-iron albatross on Royal Freo’s 6th hole will live long in the memory.
Although Seaview won the first three matches out on the course, Meadow Springs were not to be denied with their top four of Paul Okey, Les Dawson, Jamie Taylor and Jarrad Tenni digging deep to shepherd them home 4-3.
Dawson and Tenni’s matches, in particular, were crucial, their respective 1UP and 2UP wins over Jason Cooper and Tigh Van Leeuwen highlighting the wafer-thin divides between success and failure in competitive match play golf.
Meadow Springs won the Division 3 title the hard way with a nail-biting 4-3 victory
Even share of spoils in Divisions 4-8
While this drama was unfolding, five further divisional finals were also taking place at Hartfield CC and Kwinana GC.
Royal Perth achieved a modicum of revenge against Lake Karrinyup in Div 4, reversing the Div 1 scoreline to prevail 5.5-1.5 at Hartfield. They were denied the Div 6 title, however, by a determined Mosman Park, who edged them out 4-3. Mosman Park was the only club to have multiple divisional champions as they also closed out the Div 8 final against Kwinana.
In the remaining finals, Bunbury ran away 6-1 winners over Wanneroo in Div 5, although Wanneroo had the consolation of recording a 5-2 win over Meadow Springs in Div 7.
Summing up the Men’s Pennants season, Neil Goddard, GolfWA’s Operations Manager, said: “I commend not only our winning teams but all the participants in this year’s pennants. The spirit the matches have been played in, and the camaraderie in evidence between the teams, has been first rate.”
Men’s Pennants Finals Results
Div 1: Lake Karrinyup 5.5 – 1.5 Royal Perth
Div 2: Rockingham 4.5 – 2.5 Gosnells (Rockingham promoted to Div 1)
Div 3: Meadow Springs 4 – 3 Seaview (Meadow Springs promoted to Div 2)
Div 4: Royal Perth 5.5 – 1.5 Lake Karrinyup
Div 5: Bunbury 6 – 1 Wanneroo
Div 6: Mosman Park 4 – 3 Royal Perth
Div 7: Wanneroo 5 – 2 Meadow Springs
Div 8: Mosman Park 4.5 – 2.5 Kwinana (1)
See the full breakdown of results from the 2023 GolfWA Men’s Pennants season here.
