The most prestigious event on the Men’s Calendar, THE CG DUDLEY CUP, was played over 36 Holes of Stroke Play over the weekend of October 14 and October 15. MORGAN STANLEY continued their support of this year’s “Dudley” and Club Championships and our appreciation is extended to members Stuart Beattie and Mark Palmer for their ongoing support of the club.
2023 marks the 73rd playing of “THE DUDLEY”, and a field of 91 players started on Saturday in their journey to be crowned champion on Sunday evening and to qualify for the Club Championships.
Just a little bit of history about the man who the trophy is named after, for those who do not already know.
CYRIL DUDLEY – President for 27 years (1932-1950 and 1955-1962)
In 1933 he was made a Life Member and in 1963 “President Emeritus” which literally means “one who has retired with honour”.
In 1975 he was awarded a C.B.E.by the Queen for services to Real Estate, Sport, Politics and Community Service.
Family–
His wife Pam was a Founding Member and Life Member.
Tom Dudley, one of his six children, was a member of the first winning “A” Grade Pennant team in 1960. Son John was also a member and handy golfer.
Cyril himself played on a handicap as low as 6 and was a member of a winning “B” Grade team.
His daughter, Anne, married Herb Elliott in 1959.
Some of Cyril’s other achievements
President of WA Golf Association
President of Subiaco Football Club
President of the Real Estate Institute – both the state and national bodies
Life Member Real Estate Institute of Australia
Involved in organizational committee for the 1962 Empire Games (now Commonwealth Games)
Past champions in the field included – David Falconer (1976 and 2003), Andrew Everett (2007), Timothy Tan (2009), Brian Stuart (2017) and Campbell Thomson (2020).
ROUND ONE
A hot Spring Day greeted all players and there was no excuse for any player not to have a good score – except of course it was the DUDLEY and the curse would no doubt get some players, including some of those who had set themselves for the weekend with a little too much practice too late!!!
In the morning David Southam (7 H’Cap) led the way with a fine net 67 and gross 74. He got off to a flyer with birdies on the first two holes. Bogeys on the final two holes of the front nine stopped his momentum. His back nine of 1 over was a good comeback and his score would be good enough to lead the way in the morning.
After returning from a bad wrist injury a few months ago, 14-year-old Junior Member Luke Bai (20 H’Cap) recovered from a triple bogey on the 4th hole to play consistently and record an excellent 3 under par net score of 69.
Playing in his first Dudley since returning to the club, Alister Miles (+2 H’Cap) had a fine Gross Score of 68 – Nett 70. His card included 3 Birdies, 1 Eagle on the 13th and a single bogey on the 6th hole – an excellent day for Alister. Could he become the first truly low marker to take out the Dudley since Darren Tan in 2002?
Chris Allen (32 H’Cap) was next of the morning field with net 71. His nines were consistent and it would be interesting to see what fortunes awaited him in the second round.
Next best in the morning was Gavin Parker (7 H’Cap) with an even par round of 72.
In the afternoon scoring did not improve and it was left to Jeff Hamdorf (18 H’Cap) to be the only player to break par – two under 70. Starting from the 6th hole he was square with the card after 8 holes. He turned for home 2 over and net 29!! – amazing from an 18 Handicap. Three pars followed. Then he came to the 18th where a 9 stopped him in his tracks. Then followed a double and triple bogey and 3 more bogeys to finish the day – what could have been. Nevertheless, at the end of the day he was in equal third position.
Stuart Wharton (7 H’Cap), playing alongside Jeff, started with 3 Bogeys in his first 4 holes. The back nine on the card consisted of 8 pars and a double bogey on the 14th. Three bogeys during the last five holes saw him sign for 79 – net 72.
Brett Thompson (11 H’Cap) started well and with 2 birdies during his first 6 holes was square with the card and looking good. Unfortunately, the next six holes saw him undo the good work – 6 over. And with the last 5 holes also not what he wanted, he also signed for 72.
Joining Stewart and Brett was the wily veteran, Stuart Munro (20 H’Cap) whose day did not reach great heights but he played well enough to lie in equal 5th position after round one – a day in which only 5 players broke par. So only three players broke par in the morning of the first round. One would suspect there were 2 reasons – Players not used to faster greens and of course the “Curse of The Dudley”. COURSE 1 – PLAYERS NIL
The Best Gross belonged to Alister Miles with 68. He led by six shots from Edmund Hall and Dave Southam.
In the “over 55’s” the favorite, and winner for the past four years, David Falconer had some work to do after finishing with 85 and five shots adrift of Stewart Wharton – 80.
ROUND TWO
Once again, a beautiful Spring Day greeted the players with temperatures in the low to mid thirties.
As asked in 2022 – Could the morning players continue their form or would the afternoon players climb over the top of them?
Could Luke Bai create history and become the youngest player to win The Dudley?
Overnight Leader, Dave Southam (7 H’Cap) did not recover from his double bogey, bogey start and turned in 44. Whilst he held on over the first 4 holes of his back nine, he ultimately signed for nett 77 and overall, even par 144. This still could be a winning score.
Meanwhile Luke Bai was making inroads and turned for home with a net 33. After making par at the 10th, he hit a few speed bumps over the next 4 holes – with a Quadruple Bogey, a Bogey, a Double Bogey and a Triple Bogey – so with 4 holes left he had undone all the good work of the first 10 holes. To his credit he rallied and parred hole 15-17.
A par up the last would see him have his second 69 for the championship. A Double Bogey, which was a net par, saw him finish with 71 and an overall score of 140. This set the mark for the rest of the field and could easily be the winning score. A nervous wait for the 14-year-old.
After an excellent first round of 71, Chris Allen had a day he would rather forget. (no elaboration required).
Gavin Parker who had 72 on day one did not have a good day either – especially by his standards.
Ajay Dhadli returned to form with a Gross 74/net 70 and a total of 156 gross which would see him safely in the top 8 Qualifiers for the Club Championship.
After a poor first round of 80 Gross Tristan Geerlings (1 H’Cap) returned an even par round 72.
Gary Hing (9 H’Cap) also returned to form with a one under par 71 but his first round of 79 cost him any chance.
After a first round 73, Paul Baster (13 H’Cap) was looking a chance -5 over after 10 holes. His surge was halted on the 12th with a triple bogey and the 14th did not help – a double bogey. He finished with 72 for the day and 148 overall.
So, the afternoon players had their work cut out to overhaul the leader. It was hard to see them overcoming Luke Bai’s target of 140.
And one by one they fell by the wayside
After a first round 70 Jeff Hamdorf knew a good start was essential if he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his nephew, Zach Neilsen, the 2022 Champion – but that was not to be. After starting from the 6th Jeff dropped 6 shots in his first 5 holes and did not recover.
With an opening round of 70 under his belt, Alister Miles first 7 holes yielded three pars two Birdies and two Bogeys – square after 7 but needed something to happen if he was to catch the leader. That did not happen and as hard as he tried over the concluding stages he could not make up any ground and finished even par for the 36 holes.
Stewart Wharton also had an opening round of 70 but quite simply “imploded” over his first 9 holes and was out of the race
After an opening round of 72 Stuart Munro was going along quite nicely and after 10 holes was 1 under his handicap. Could he catch the leader? No, he could not and wilted over the last few holes finishing with net 76.
No one else made any impression and Luke Bai ran out a comfortable winner of the 2023 C.G. Dudley by 4 shots over Alister Miles and David Southam with Ajay Dhadli in 4th spot.
Luke Bai has made history in becoming the youngest player to win the coveted title at the age of 14 – a moment he will remember for the rest of his life.
Best of the Past Champions was David Falconer on 152.
The Pascoe Cup awarded to the winner of the Best Gross was won by Alister Miles with an outstanding two round score of 140 (68,72) from Tristan Geerlings on 152 and Ajay Dhadli on 154.
David Falconer made up lost ground in the second round and won his fifth consecutive over 55’s title with a score of 85.79=164. Gavin Parker was runner-up on 165.
It is the start of a busy period for the courses staff and they are to be congratulated on the way the course was presented over the two days.
Thanks to the Pro Shop and House staff for their efforts over the weekend.
A big thankyou to Mark Palmer and Stuart Beattie from MORGAN STANLEY for their continued sponsorship of the CG Dudley and Club Championships.
Best of luck to all of those who qualified for the Club Championships.
Congratulations to Luke Bai in winning the 2023 CG Dudley.
From Greg Fitzhardinge-
