The weekend of the 21st and 22nd of March saw 75 players contest the 74th playing of the Summer Cup in Summer like conditions with temperatures in the low to mid-thirties.
The Summer Cup was presented by Trevor Rodda’s sons and daughters. Trevor was club Captain in 1954/1955.
It was originally played over 36 holes on a Sunday and played as an Open Event which became an invitational event and then a member only event played over a weekend.
There were seven previous winners trying to win for a second or third time – 2011 Greg Polla, 2017 Scott van Heurck, 2018 and 2020 Callum White, 2019 Jeff Lane, 2022 Don O’Brien, 2023 Greg Parker and defending Champion Tony Cowan
Continuing as sponsor of the Summer Cup was Phil Johnson Plumbing and Gas and the club sincerely appreciates Phil’s continued support. Phil himself was an accomplished golfer at State and National level and a four-time Club Champion (1991-1994) and won the Summer Cup in 2012. Could he make it two?
ROUND ONE
In excellent morning conditions the scoring was not in keeping with the conditions. Just like 2025 not many scores in red – 2 this year and as per 2025 only 4 players beat 2 down.
Leading the pack on 1up were Keedan Nelles (6 H’Cap) and former President Timothy Tan (8 H’Cap).
Next was Oliver Bisschops (14 H’Cap) and Greg Paddon (21 H’Cap) was in rarefied air on 1 down. There were no 2 downs and two former Champions Callum White (4 H’Cap) and Greg Polla (12 H’Cap) were joined by Vice-President, Gus Elliot (7 H’Cap) on 3 down.
EDITORS COMMENT
Timothy Tan was seen hitting a provisional ball on the 17th hole but fotunately found his first and made Birdie – a plus and not 4 points.
Surely the afternoon field will do better.
The afternoon players seemd to be coping much better early on but most of them fell away during the latter part of the day. – lack of fitness probably.
John Li (16 H’Cap) started slowly from the 8th and was 1 down after 5 holes. 4 pluses during the next 9 holes put him at 3 up with 4 holes left. 3 Halves followed and a loss on the new tricky 7th hole left him at 2 up and clubhouse leader.
FIFO Member, Andrew Frazer (13 H’Cap) started fom the 1st and was going nicely after 12 Holes where he was 1 up. Then heat kicked in and 4 wipes during his last 6 holes saw him fall back to 2 down along with his playing partner Damon Watkins (14 H’Cap) who was ssquare after 15 and looking the goods. The 16th and 18th losses saw him drop back to 2 down.
Rehan Alikhan (10 H’Cap) was also 2 down. Starting from the 6th he was 4 down after his first 10 holes. 3 pluses during his last 5 holes saw him finish well and in with a chance.
Campbell Sullivan (16 H’Cap), starting from the 2nd, was going along fairly and was 3 down with 2 holes left. Two pluses and he was in the mix at 1 down.
The defending Champion, Tony Cowan ( 23 H’Cap), found the heat not to his liking and was well down the list – no second Summer Cup for him in 2026.
So at the end of round one there were only 4 players Square or better with 2 players on 1 down and 3 players on 2 down The 9 players on 3 down also had a chance of taking home the Trophy.
LEADERS – John Li (16) – 2up; Keedan Nelles(6) and Timothy Tan (8) – 1up; Oliver Bisschops(14) – Square, Greg Paddon (21)and Campbell Sullivan (16 H’Cap)– 1 down
FINAL ROUND and OVERALL
Another warm day greeted the morning players. What would the morning field do?
Not a lot judging by the scores.
Keedan Nelles (6) was written off after 6 holes – 6 losses. Must have been a h big night.
But like a true Champion he fought back and with 6 pluses during the last 12 holes he ultimately signed for 3 down and 2 down overall. Not a bad effort.
Timothy Tan (8) had an up and down day – plus then wipe then plus and really could not make anything happen but hung in there and was 2 down with 4 holes to negotiate – 2 losses followed and a half at the 17th and a plus to finish – after all that he also had 3 down and 2 down overall.
EDITOR WROTE LAST YEAR
– Tim Tan was up then he was down – lots of pluses and lots of wipes – final score 4 down and 4 down overall.
Campbell Sullivan (16) switched to the morning and starting from the 6th hole was one down with 5 holes to play. 4 halves and an excellent plus on his final hole – the 5th and square was the final score – and 1 down overall – Leader after the morning.
Greg Paddon (21) started well and after 5 holes was square. Could this be his year? Simple answer – NO.6 losses during the next 8 holes and he was GAWN!!
Greg Polla (12) went to sleep early and stayed asleep
Gus Elliot (7) liked to do things in 3’s – I mean losses – holes 2,3 and 4 and ditto second time round 11,12 and 13. Finished positively and signed for 4 down and 2 overall.
Brian Stuart (17 H’Cap) had the best morning round of 2 up and an overall score of 3 down which put him in 4th spot after the morning round. His round was splattered with pluses – 7 in all.
So, at lunchtime on the second day the leaderboard looked something like this-
Campbell Sullivan (16) 1 down
Keedan Nelles (6) 2 down
Tim Tan (8) 2 down
Brian Stuart (17) 3 down
Gus Elliot (7) 3 down
Now to the afternoon players
So let’s look at some of the contenders, remembering that 1 down was the score to beat to become the 2026 Champion.
Oliver Bisschops (14), 1 down overnight, had a round to forget.
Callum White’s campaign was derailed mid round where he had 4 losses in 5 holes and did not recover.
Andrew Frazer (13) Flew In yesterday and Flew Out today!
The overnight leader John Li (16) started steadily and was going to make it difficult for the chasing pack, 2 up after 6 holes and 4 up overall – daylight second.
Steve Noske (7) after carding 5 down on day one, was making a late move – 2up after 6 holes and 3 down overall – but it was a matter of too late, as the horse had bolted. But he was shooting up the leaderboard.
Damon Watkins started well (2 up after 3 holes) and fell away
Rehan Alikhan (10) got lost early – 4 down after 6 holes.
With 9 holes left the Leaderboard looked like something this-
John Li (16) 4 up
Campbell Sullivan (16) 1 down (finished)
Keedan Nelles (6) 2 down finished)
Tim Tan (8) 2 down (finished)
Brian Stuart (17) 3 down (finished)
Gus Elliot (7) 3 down (finished)
Steve Noske (7) 3 down
So really unless John imploded he would be the 2026 Champion.
Whilst his final 9 holes were not his best (1 down) he finised 1 up for the round and 3 up overall.
Not much excitemnet from the remainder of the afternoon field.
FINAL LEADERBOARD – John Li (3up), Campbell Sullivan (1 down) Keedan Nelles (2 down), Timothy Tan (2 down), Steve Noske (3 down), Brian Stuart (3 down), and Tom Luke
Best Gross went to Cody Price – 9 down from Keedan Nelles – 11 down.
The best former Champion was Jeff Lane on 8 down.
Thanks once again to Phil Johnson Plumbing and Gas for continuing their support of the Summer Cup.
Thanks to the Course Staff, (the course was very well presented), House Staff, Kitchen Staff and Pro Shop Staff for their efforts over the weekend. Well done to all of you.
Congratulations JOHN LI – a deserved Champion
Editor’s Note
With Senior Pennants coming up on Monday, and with both teams playing away, it was interesting to note the combined score of 8 members of each team
GREEN TEAM (Captain Brett Thomson) 56 down
average over 36 holes 7down
YELLOW TEAM (Captain Greg Fitzhardinge) 90 down
Average over 36 holes just over 11 down
What would happen?
-from Greg Fitzhardinge
