West Australian John Banting of Royal Perth Golf Club (holding trophy) has recorded his first Australian Senior Ranking title with victory in the 2014 South Australian Senior Amateur Championship.
In a week of very difficult conditions where the winds blew at 60 kph and then the rain came Banting (79-81-75-235) produced the round of the tournament with a closing 75 for a one stroke win over Victorian Gordon Claney (left). His final round score of 75 comprised 15 pars and 3 bogies and was the best score of the tournament, an exceptional effort given the weather and the added pressure of the final day. A well deserved win.
It was yet another top placing for Claney (78-81-77=236) and he is very quickly moving up the Australian Senior Ranking ladder. He has the impressive record of five Top 5 finishes from the seven events he has played. Claney handled the testing conditions better than most and his closing 77 was a very good round when it is realised that only four players managed to break 80. An Australian Senior Ranking win is very close – perhaps the Australian Senior Amateur that starts at the end of the month in Perth?
Third place went to NSW senior Vince Clark (80-79-82=241) who has certainly found a purple patch of form and in recent weeks he has figured right in the finish of the Gold Coast Seniors, The Grange Seniors and now the SA Senior Amateur. A great effort from the Super Senior!
Clearly the weather conditions were the feature of this tournament. Fleurieu proved it self the winner under the conditions. However, the players were keen to advise that the hospitality of all was wonderful and even with the wind and rain it was another enjoyable week of senior golf.
Final Scores:
235 BANTING John 79 – 81 – 75 Royal Perth WA
236 CLANEY Gordon 78 – 81 – 77 Kingston Heath VIC
241 CLARK Vince 80 – 79 – 82 The Lakes NSW
243 FROST Ian 77 – 87 – 79 Bendigo VIC
243 TURNER Nigel 81 – 79 – 83 Links Lady Bay SA
244 GORDON Christopher 80 – 81 – 83 New South Wales NSW
244 AIGNER Wayne 79 – 81 – 84 Brighton VIC
245 BOEHM Kerry 80 – 83 – 82 Rossdale VIC
246 CORDINA Norm 83 – 82 – 81 Tea Tree Gully SA
248 PEECK Michael 83 – 81 – 84 Dalby QLD
249 BOWEN Graham 89 – 79 – 81 Mandurah WA
251 MACDONALD Grahame 82 – 85 – 84 Nudgee QLD
252 BROWN Kenneth 91 – 83 – 78 Tea Tree Gully SA
252 ROSS Steve 83 – 87 – 82 South Lakes SA
252 EDWARDS David 85 – 84 – 83 Pennant Hills NSW
252 THORNLEY Keith 90 – 79 – 83 The Lakes NSW
252 MOYLE Peter 83 – 85 – 84 Ocean Shores NSW
254 SMALL Alexander 82 – 83 – 89 Glenelg SA
255 WINSLOW William 86 – 80 – 89 Grange SA
255 REEVES Trevor 88 – 78 – 89 Moss Vale NSW
