One of the most hotly contested Men’s Pennants seasons in years reaches its climax this Sunday, with the finals in the top three divisions all too close to call.
Royal Perth secured the top spot in the Division 1 table ahead of Lake Karrinyup after edging them 4-3 in the final round of matches last weekend.
Having only been promoted to the top division at the end of last season, it marks a fine effort by the Royal Perth team to reach the final at Royal Fremantle where they will face off against Lake Karrinyup once more.
With both teams lacking some of their power players due to overseas commitments, the result is difficult to predict but having beaten Karrinyup in their own backyard last week, Royal Perth will be in confident mood on neutral ground – especially given the form of team number one Jordan Jung, who has gone undefeated throughout the pennants season.
In Division 2, Gosnells will be hoping to bounce back to the top division at the first time of asking but will have a fight on their hands against table toppers Rockingham at Royal Fremantle.
The impressive Rockingham team went unbeaten throughout their seven matches, but one of their two drawn matches came against Gosnells in the third round indicating that a nailbiting encounter could be in the offing.
For Gosnells, team number one Josiah Edwards has won four out of four matches he’s played, while Brendon Boyd is unbeaten in six matches for Rockingham.
Division 3 is just as finely poised. Finalists Seaview and Meadow Springs each had a W3 H1 qualifying record – halving the match between themselves in Round 2.
Jamie Taylor and Paul Okey have 100% records for Seaview from 4 matches, while Tigh Van Leeuwen (three wins from three) and Nick Piani (two wins from two) lead the way for Seaview.
Neil Goddard, GolfWA’s Operations Manager, believes the 2023 Men’s Pennants season has showcased all that is good about amateur golf in the state.
“We’re delighted that the standards of competition and sportsmanship have been so high throughout Men’s Pennants. It’s been a vintage year that has been so keenly contested that it’s hard to identify outright favourites,” he said. “We congratulate all the finalists and wish all the competitors the best of luck for Sunday.”
Elsewhere in Men’s Pennants, five further titles in the non-promotion and relegation divisions will be contested at Hartfield CC and Kwinana, with several interesting encounters on the cards.
Mirroring their Division 1 counterparts, Lake Karrinyup and Royal Perth meet in the Division 4 final, while Wanneroo (Divs 5 and 7) and Mosman Park (Divs 6 and 8) each contest two finals.
Men’s Pennants finals
Division 1: Royal Perth vs Lake Karrinyup
Division 2: Gosnells vs Rockingham
Division 3: Seaview vs Meadow Springs
Division 4: Lake Karrinyup vs Royal Perth
Division 5: Wanneroo vs Bunbury
Division 6: Mosman Park vs Royal Perth
Division 7: Wanneroo vs Meadow Springs
Division 8: Kwinana 1 vs Mosman Park
Results will be viewable on the Men’s Pennants page of the GolfWA website on Sunday afternoon.
