and Sponsor Representative Wayne Trumble
The Fourteenth AUTUMN CUP was played over the weekend of April 18 and 19. The weather over the two days was cool in the mornings and pleasant in the afternoons – perfect weather for golf. Eighty-Three players set out in their quest to become the 2026 Champion and be presented with the trophy by the sponsor of the day, THE GALLERY, generous supporters of the club. And a fine body of Gentlemen.
There were four past champions in this year’s field – Damon Watkins (2015 and 2016 and 2025), Craig Nelson (2018), Steve Noske (2019), and Wilfred Ong (2023)
Past President Damon Watkins (in case you did not know) was not only trying to successfully defend his 2025 title but to win the trophy for the 4th time. It must be said that his form going into Saturday was not encouraging.
ROUND ONE
In the perfect conditions scoring in the morning was pretty good with Joe Alexander (15 H’Cap) leading the way with 39 points. The consistent Don O’Brien (13 H’Cap) was next on 38 followed by James Russ (9 H’Cap) and Gallery Member Bob King (20 H’Cap) on 36 points.
On 35 points was Ai Tran (22 H’Cap) and then followed Gavin Parker (4 H’Cap), Joe Jones (9 H’Cap), Bevan Lawrence (19 H’Cap) and 2023 Champion Wilfred Ong (11 H’Cap) on 34 points.
Could the afternoon players do better?
Let’s start with the defending Champion, Damon Watkins (13 H’Cap). He jumped out of the blocks with authority and was one in front of 2’s after 5 holes. A couple of one point holes and a wipe on the 11th saw him at the end of the day sign for 33 points and with work to do for a “fourpeat”
Starting from the eighth, Luke Everett (26 H’Cap) had 21 points after his first nine. Two one pointers commenced his final nine and over the last 6 holes 14 points were scored and he joined Joe Alexander at the top of the leaderboard on 39 points.
Tim Song (16 H’Cap) starting from the 7th had 18 points on his first nine. 4 three pointers during his last 5 holes helped him to 39 points and joint leader after the first round.
Brett Thomson (10 H’Cap) played consistently for his 36 points – two 3 pointers were matched by two 1 pointers and the rest were 2 pointers.
Up and coming Junior Ollie Wright (11 H’Cap) did not have a good time on the 7th and 16th where he only had 2 points. But five 3 pointers were more than enough to overcome this setback and he also had 36 points.
One back was Luke’s father Andrew Everett (17 H’cap) on 35 points.
Best Gross leader was Anthony Joseph on 33 points.
At the end of Round One 17 players were between 34 and 39 points and one would suspect the winner would come from within this group.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Gavin Furness would once again be denied a “full book” of Season Cups after a disappointing first round of 24 points.
ROUND TWO
Another lovely day greeted the players and firstly to the morning players-
Luke Everett switched to the morning with father Andrew.
The scoring it has to be said was below par with the best score from the 27 players coming from Adam McLaren (21 H’Cap) with 34 points. 2 players were on 32 and 2 on 30.
Andrew Everett, Joe Alexander Ai Tran and Bob King were first to put the cue in the rack and all scored below 30 points.
Don O’Brien was going along nicely until he had 4 points in 4 holes. This contributed to his demise and he finished the day with 30 points and a total of 68.
The only other player with a chance was Luke Everett. Front nine of 16 points and then he too struck trouble on the homeward stretch but finished with 3 points on his final hole – the 6th. He set the benchmark at 71 points and judging from the scoring this could be difficult to run down.
So now to the afternoon field –
James Russ was first to fall with 13 points on his first nine.
Brett Thomson had 15 points on his front nine and needed something special on his final nine.
Ollie Wright looked to be the favourite to run down Luke Everett after a solid first nine holes of 18 points.
Tim Song was right in the mix with 15 points on his first nine.
A couple of players were making a move and after 27 holes the chasing pack scores looked something like this-
Tim Song (16) 54 points
Ollie Wright (11) 54 points
Jimmy Smith (15) 52 points
Phil Johnson (9) 51 points
Brett Thomson (10) 51 points
Phil Mackay (2) 51 points
Ollie Wright was still making ground but that came to a sudden halt when he wiped his 14th hole the first. He bounced back with a birdie on the second and 4 points.
Tim Song had 8 points over the first 4 holes of his final nine.
Jimmy Smith also started his final nine well with 6 points in the first 3 holes with Brett Thomson 1 better.
After one of the first day’s chasers on 34 points, Phil Mackay (2 H’Cap) looked the goods after 3 holes amassing 9 points.
Phil Johnson’s one pointers on holes 14 and 16 could prove costly. And a wipe on the 17th put him out of contention.
So, with 3 holes left it was a race in 3 players to overhaul Luke Everett
Tim Song (16) 67 points plus 1,1,2=71
Phil Mackay (2) 66 points plus 1,1,2=70
Ollie Wright (11) 65 points plus 2,2,2=71
So, Tim and Ollie tied with Luke on 71 points – would Luke’s 3 points on his final hole be telling?
No, the countback went to Ollie Wright with 35 points on his final 18 holes compared with 32 points from the two overnight leaders, Luke Everett and Tim Song.
Best Gross went to Anthony Joseph with scores of 75/80=155
FINAL LEADERBOARD
Oliver WRGHT 36/35 71 points
Luke EVERETT 39/32 71 points
Tim SONG 39/32 71 points
Phil MACKAY 34/36 70 points
Brett THOMSON 36/32 68 points
Don O’BRIEN 38/30 68 points
Adam McLAREN 33/34 67 points
BEST FIRST ROUND
Joe ALEXANDER 39 points
BEST SECOND ROUND
James BAI 39 points
Best Past Champion Wilfred Ong 66 points
Best of THE GALLERY Wilfred Ong 66 points
Appreciation is extended once again to our sponsors THE GALLERY for their generous support of this year’s Autumn Cup.
Acknowledgement must be made of the Course Staff who prepared the course magnificently. The Pro Shop Staff and House and Bar staff also did their bit in making the 14th Autumn Cup a success.
Congratulations OLIVER WRIGHT on winning the 2026 Autumn Cup
EDITOR’S FOOTNOTES
- Over the course of the Weekend only 6 scores over 36 points were registered – the Course was the winner.
- Food for thought -Disappointingly it appears that some members enter 36 hole events with no intention of playing the second round –
Summer Cup Day 1 74 players Day 2 60 players
Autumn Cup Day 1 83 players Day 2 70 players
from Greg Fitzhardinge
