Over the weekend of Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th October the quarter and semi-finals of the Men’s Club Championships were decided in wintry weather conditions.
MORGAN STANLEY continued their sponsorship of the Championships and once again appreciation is extended to Mark Palmer and Stuart Beattie for their support.
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
On Saturday the top four seeded players each had strong wins to progress to the semi-finals.
On Sunday the Pascoe Cup winner, Tristan Geerlings, and 2019 Minor Championship winner Aidan Cooper did battle in the first semi-final with Tristan jumping out to a five hole advantage after nine holes. Aidan fought back with birdies on the 10th and 11th and looked like winning the 14th but missed a four metre putt for birdie. A fine sand save by Tristan at the same hole thwarted Aidan’s challenge, with Tristan running out a 3/2 winner.
The second semi-final saw the 2018 (Jeremy Crabb) and 2019 (Ben Cullinan) Champions pitted against one another.
In the cool and squally conditions Ben asserted his authority early and Jeremy was not at his best for much of the day, with Ben ultimately taking out the match 5/4.
So, the Club Championship finalists were decided with the defending Champion Ben Cullinan set to take on the number one qualifier Tristan Geerlings – which shapes up to be a close run affair.
MINOR CHAMPIONSHIP
The four first round losers from the Club Championship progressed through to the Minor Championship with the semi- finals played on Sunday.
The long hitting James Morris and Anthony Joseph were in the first semi-final which James won comfortably – 5/4.
In the second semi-final David Southam, who is to be congratulated on making the top 8 qualifiers for the Championship proper for the first time, lowered his colours to Edmund Hall who adapted to the wintry conditions better and ran out a 7/6 winner.
The Finalist for the Minor Championship are James Morris and Edmund Hall. Once again this should be an interesting final.
“A” GRADE CHAMPIONSHIP
All eight qualifiers had the credentials to win this Championship this year and most of the matches produced close results.
In the quarter final, as predicted, the number one qualifier, Dean Hannell, had to fight hard for his win at the nineteenth over former Club Champion Tony Slee.
Then Steven Noske did the same against Marty Morris – with Steven holing a difficult 3 metre putt on the 19th hole.
So Dean and Steven played off in one Semi- final and again they both decided 18 holes was not enough and went to the 19th, where Dean prevailed.
Gary Hing and Grant Evans both had comfortable quarter final victories and a close encounter between the two looked ominous. It turned out to be a very closely run affair. A possible turning point came on the eleventh hole where Gary lost a ball. Grant ran out the winner by one hole.
The Finalist for the “A” Grade Championship are the number one qualifier Dean Hannell and the number seven seed Grant Evans.
“B” GRADE CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday’s quarter finals were all keenly contested with all matches going to the eighteenth or beyond.
As predicted, the number one qualifier, Bob King, had his hands full with the “wily” Bevan Lawrence with Bevan winning in extra time – at the twentieth.
Captain Joe Alexander looked on track to record a comfortable win over George Gelavis. George showed his fighting qualities, coming from 5 down at one point, to take the match to the 17th with Joe winning 2/1.
Ken Hall’s excellent approach to the 18th hole against Brian Stuart was enough for him to run out a winner – 2 up.
Ako Futaesaku nearly blew his chances of progressing to the semis when he three putted the 18th from short range to give Ron Edenburg an opportunity. Ako did not make the same error on the 19th where he won.
In the first semi-final, Bevan Lawrence played steadily to progress to the final with a 3/2 win over Joe Alexander.
In the second semi-final, Ako Futaesaku outlasted Ken Hall winning 1 up.
The Finalists for the “B” Grade Championship are the number eight qualifier Bevan Lawrence and the number two qualifier Ako Futaesaku.
“C” GRADE CHAMPIONSHIP
A great deal of interest centred around the runner up in the CG Dudley, Rob Viol, to see if he could win this Championship. But first he had to overcome the number eight seed John Sheridan. In a see sawing match John won on the final hole.
John Clarkson overcame a strong challenge from Ken Douglas winning 2 up.
Playing in their first Championships at the club, Tony Sarson and Steve Andrews were deadlocked after the 18th. An errant drive by Steve on the 19th allowed Tony to claim victory. In the final quarter final, Jon Nicol had to withdraw giving Wayne Trumble a walkover.
In the first semi-final John Sheridan jumped out strongly winning the first three holes over Wayne Trumble. Wayne never recovered from this early setback with John holding on to record a well earned 3/2 victory.
The second semi- final saw Tony Sarson up against John Clarkson. After leading by one hole at the 10th, Tony finished strongly and ultimately ran out a 4/2 winner.
The Finalists for the “C” Grade Championship are the number eight qualifier John Sheridan and the number two seed Tony Sarson.
THE FINALS
So, the finalists have now been decided and will do battle on SATURDAY OCTOBER 3.
Club Championship 1.Tristan Geerlings vs 3.Ben Cullinan
Minor Championship 1.James Morris vs 3.Edmund Hall
“A” Grade Championship 1.Dean Hannell (H’cap 10) vs 7.Grant Evans (H’cap 11)
“B” Grade Championship 8.Bevan Lawrence (H’cap 14) vs 2.Ako Futaesaku (H’cap 14)
“C” Grade Championship 8.John Sheridan (H’cap 24) vs 2.Tony Sarson (H’cap 29)
Finally, congratulations to all qualifiers and best of luck to all finalists.
From – Greg Fitzhardinge
