Mount Lawley secured the Division 1 Women’s Pennants flag for the third consecutive year after dominating Lake Karrinyup in the final.
The Vines Golf & Country Club hosted the showdown, which, on paper could have been a close encounter. Mount Lawley had won all seven of their matches on their procession to the final, while Lake Karrinyup’s only defeat came at the hands of Mount Lawley in an exciting 4.5 – 2.5 match in the second round of matches in early May.
Come the final, however, Mount Lawley was bolstered by the presence of Erina Tan, Amanda Gan, Isabella Leniartek and Ruby Cotton – all of whom had missed the earlier clash between the sides while representing WA in the interstate teams matches.
Mount Lawley made most of the early running, with Cotton, Gan, Maddison Ling, Georgia Sanderson and Sophie Williams all up early in their matches. It wasn’t all one-way traffic, though, with Lake Karrinyup’s Hannah Mitchell and Isobel Dorrington up on Tan and Leniartek at the halfway point in the top two matches.
That was as good as it got for Lake Karrinyup, however. Williams – unbeaten throughout the pennants season – posted an 8&7 win over Tracey Silbert, with Ling, Sanderson, Cotton and Gan all adding comfortable wins to guarantee Mount Lawley the flag.
Tan and Leniartek, meanwhile, overturned their deficits to win 3&1 and 2&1 respectively to give Mount Lawley a 7-0 clean sweep.
Not only was it Mount Lawley’s third Division 1 title on the bounce it was also their sixth win in the last seven women’s pennants seasons, with Royal Perth in 2021 the only other team to win the top flight since 2016.
Lake Karrinyup hasn’t won the title since 2015 but can take solace in a splendid season’s golf, while the team also enjoyed excellent support from club members during the final.
WAGC and Hartfield take North & South honours
Elsewhere in the weekend competition, The Western Australian GC and Hartfield GC claimed the titles in the respective North and South divisions.
This was the inaugural year for these divisions, with 10 teams in total competing off handicap in a round-robin format to decide the victors.
Three teams were in with a shot at the title in the South Division going into the last day’s play, with Hartfield’s 4-2 win over Royal Fremantle granting them the top spot ahead of Pinjarra and Royal Freo.
It was more cut-and-dried in the North Division, where WAGC could afford to lose their final match against Lake Karrinyup and still top the standings.
There was also plenty of action in the Weekday Divisions, with Wanneroo romping to a 6-1 victory over Melville Glades in the Division 1 final at Lake Karrinyup to complete an unbeaten season.
The Division 2 clash between Cottesloe and WAGC was a much tighter affair with little to separate the competitors in the seven individual matches.
WAGC’s Jenny Fallows recovered from losing a one-hole lead on the 18th to win her match against Ro Butler on the first extra hole to earn a crucial point. Team-mate Inni Rho then had to dig deep after being reeled in by Jan Rawlinson, securing a 2UP win with a rock-solid par on the final hole to get WAGC over the line.
WAGC also claimed the Division 3 title, with Nedlands and Royal Fremantle bringing home the Division 4 and Division 5 flags respectively.
WAGC edged Cottesloe on an exciting final day
Final results – Weekend Divisions
Division 1 = Mount Lawley Golf Club
North Division = The Western Australian Golf Club
South Division = Hartfield Golf Club
Weekday Divisions
Division 1 = Wanneroo Golf Club
Division 2 = The Western Australian Golf Club
Division 3 = The Western Australian Golf Club
Division 4 = Nedlands Golf Club
Division 5 = Royal Fremantle Golf Club
All the season’s results and standings can be viewed here.
Royal Fremantle’s team was thrilled to claim the Division 5 title
