Sunday 15th March saw the first round of SWGA men's pennant kick off for 2020.
The Firsts (Division 2) travelled to Colac to play Curlewis where it was quite cool and drizzly to begin, but things picked up after a few holes and the day turned out very pleasant.
We were the second group off after winning the toss. First player away was Tony Light, who after a very tense battle halved his match on the 18th after being 2-down after 15.
Next was young debutante Tom Thiele who was up against the wily and experienced Greg Bishop. Tommy played some great golf but after an unlucky lip out on 15 went down 2 &1.
Playing at No.5 was our former pennant player of the year Billy Flinn; but unfortunately for Billy his opponent didn't miss a putt all day on the treacherous Colac greens, which had everybody mesmerised.
Our No. 4 was the in-form player at the moment (veteran) Graeme Mathers. Right from the start GM didn't give his opponent a look-in and Graeme had a convincing 4/2 victory.
The No.3s saw Mick Terrington play his great mate Cam Bowers. This match was a cracker and went down to the last putt on the 18th, with Cam winning 1-up.
Captain Barry T played his usual you're not going to beat me game and didn't give his opponent a look in either. Baz should have wrapped the match up on the 15th but a three-putt took the match to the 16th for a 3/1 win.
At No.1 we welcomed back Jack Wood, returning to pennant after a six or seven-year hiatus. This match was the game of the long bombers with drives reaching 300 meters regularly. But Jack came up against former Pro, Matt Walkenhurst, who since being in the district has taken some very big scalps so it was not to be for Jack on Sunday - but keep an eye on him during round two at 13th Beach.
So, the wash up was we went down 4.5 to 2.5, but we believe we took a lot out of the match and everybody is looking forward to the rest of the season.
Well that's our report for this week, stay tuned for next week's news...
Gary O'Brien
Men's Pennant Team Manager