Joondalup Country Club won their third Division 1 Men’s Pennants title in four years after digging deep to beat Mount Lawley in a high-quality final.
Played in testing conditions at Wanneroo Golf Club, intermittent rain and blustery winds added an element of unpredictability to the day’s play, while the 36-hole match play format also taxing each player’s physical and mental reserves.
Having beaten Mount Lawley in the final round-robin match last weekend, Joondalup started as favourites and were in a strong position at the halfway stage of the final itself. Mount Lawley, however, refused to buckle and at the 27-hole mark the match was too close to call.
Despite big wins for Joondalup’s George Barclay (10&8) and Lachie Hall (8&7), Ken Gao (6&5) put a point on the board for Mount Lawley with a dominant display of his own, leaving the title hinging on tight matches between Rory McKinney and Mason Whitehead, Tom Botica and Michael Montgomery, and Tom Addy and Shaun Malone.
In the end, all three of the matches went the distance, but it was McKinney’s grit, allied with a further point for 15-year-old Joondalup team-mate Nate Johnson, that played the crucial role in determining the outcome.
McKinney had held a three-hole advantage over Mason Whitehead with a few holes remaining, but the Mount Lawley man fought back tigerishly to take the match to the 18th, where McKinney held firm to post a vital 1UP win.
Johnson, meanwhile – the youngest player in the Joondalup team – recorded a fine 4&3 win over Christian Nicholls to give his team an unassailable lead.
With Botica and Montgomery, Addy and Malone halving their entertaining tussles, Joondalup ultimately prevailed 5-2 in a match closer than the scoreline perhaps suggests.
Tom Addy was Joondalup’s star man, winning six and halving one of his seven pennants matches throughout the season
Having missed out on a ‘three-peat’ in 2023, Joondalup’s win here was their fifth in the competition’s history, with their first coming in 2009. No team has won as many Division 1 Men’s Pennants titles since the turn of the millennium.
Joondalup captain Drew Dubberlin hailed the success of his charges, saying: “Even though we beat Mount Lawley last week, you can never take anything for granted in golf. After 27 holes I was starting to fear the worst but I’m really pleased with how the team responded. It’s great to get another flag.”
Team number one Tom Addy enjoyed a memorable season for Joondalup, winning six and halving one of his seven matches. It could be his last pennants’ club campaign should his ambitions to win a tour card be realised later this year, and Addy was delighted to have contributed meaningfully to his team’s success.
“It’s always an aim to go through the season undefeated, so I’m pretty happy with that,” he told GolfWA. “I love being part of this team and it’s so good to see the boys happy and to win the flag again.”
Vines and Nedlands prevail in Divisions 2 and 3
The Divisions 2 and 3 finals also took place at Wanneroo, with The Vines and Nedlands securing the respective flags in contrasting styles.
A young Vines’ team outstayed a strong Hartfield side that included state captain Connor Fewkes. Impressive wins for Trafford Wilcox (10&8), Liam Sullivan (8&7), Declan Hoskin (5&4) and Joseph Buttress (5&3) guaranteed the win, while Adam Baillie’s fighting half with Fewkes saw The Vines record a 4.5 – 2.5 victory. The Vines will now play Division 1 pennants in 2025, replacing Bunbury.
Nedlands won a thrilling clash with Sun City that saw five of the seven matches decided on the 36th hole. Only Nedlands’ Alister Miles had an easy time of things with a 6&5 win over Neville Jameson. For everyone else, it was a titanic struggle in a match that could easily have gone either way.
Ultimately, the steely resolve demonstrated by Anthony Joseph and Keedan Nelles in back-to-back 1UP wins edged Nedlands to victory and they will replace Meadow Springs in Division 2 next year.
The Vines’ youthful team will play Division 1 pennants in 2025
Unfinished business in Division 8
Six further finals took place at Lakelands and Sun City with one result intriguingly still up in the air after bad light stopped play in the Division 8 decider between The Vines and Hartfield.
With the tie level at 2.5 points each, the top match between Heath Williams and Paul Rowland couldn’t be completed as darkness set in at Sun City with the match all square after 19 holes. The title showdown will now be concluded at a date to be confirmed.
Elsewhere, there were titles for Hartfield (Division 4), Lake Karrinyup (Division 5), Chequers (Division 6 North), Bunbury (Division 6 South) and The Vines 1 (Division 7).
GolfWA Men’s Pennants final results
Division 1: Joondalup 5 – 2 Mount Lawley
Division 2: The Vines 4.5 – 2.5 Hartfield
Division 3: Nedlands 4 – 3 Sun City
Division 4: Hartfield 5 – 2 Joondalup
Division 5: Lake Karrinyup 4 – 2 Kwinana
Division 6 North: Chequers 3.5 – 2.5 The Vines
Division 6 South: Bunbury 4 – 2 Mosman Park
Division 7: The Vines 1 4 – 2 Kwinana 2
Division 8: The Vines 2.5 – Hartfield 2.5 (match to be completed at later date)
See all the match scores from Men’s Pennants finals here.
Nedlands won the Division 3 flag in nail-biting fashion
