Sean Harvey, Brendan Rogers and son Casey earned a slice of history by becoming the first WA team to clinch the X-Golf National Championship title.
Launched in 2018, the X-Golf National Championship brings together state and regional winners from across X-Golf’s Australia and New Zealand golf simulator franchise network.
This year, nine teams earned their invites to August’s national final at Melbourne’s X-Golf Preston venue after winning their local venue championships and state championships in the preceding months.
Representing X-Golf Balcatta under the team name ‘Get Schwifty’, WA state champions Sean, Brendan and team captain Casey had to negotiate four handicap knockout match play encounters to get their hands on the national trophy in Melbourne.
Dark horses going into the event, the buzz around them grew as they progressed and by the time they reached the final against South Queensland champions ‘The Brain Cells’, the WA boys were the neutrals’ favourites.
Although the Queenslanders had youth, brawn and lower average handicaps on their side, the Get Schwifty team held firm. Casey and Sean drew their matches, leaving it to veteran Brendan to shepherd them home, winning his nine-hole match 2&1 to ensure the title would head west.
“We had really great synergy together in the final,” Sean told GolfWA. “At different times throughout the final, each one of us held the team in the competition and we raised our game when it mattered.”
Brendan and Casey were the only father-and-son duo in the final, making the achievement extra sweet. “If you’d told me nine months ago, when I started playing at X-Golf Balcatta, that I’d be a national champion in any form of golf I’d never have believed you,” said Casey.
From left, Get Schwifty’s Sean, captain Casey and Brendan, at X-Golf Balcatta
As well as national bragging rights, Sean, Brendan and Casey each received a Taylormade Stealth2 driver, an invite to defend their title next year, and an all-expenses paid trip to Tasmania to play golf at the revered Barnbougle Links Golf Resort.
In winning, they paid tribute to Balcatta’s X-Golf League co-ordinator Dan Siroen (pictured with the team, top), a scratch golfer himself who has invested no small amount of time in molding the team into champions.
“We couldn’t have done it without Dan,” said Casey. “He’s given us so much advice on improving our games, he really was the fourth man in the team.”
Even after the thrill of victory has worn off, Sean, Brendan and Casey may yet retain a permanent reminder of their achievement. Prior to the final, the three made an off-the-cuff pact to have matching tattoos done in the event of winning the title. Whether or not those tattoos now eventuate is a story for another day…
X-Golf has a network of 20 locations around Australia, including three in WA at Balcatta, Joondalup and Bunbury. Find out more here.
