The 42nd SAOGA Golf Tournament (our 6th event at Clare) was held at the Clare Golf Course & Country Club from 14th to 17th November 2024 and was a very successful event. 

The weather was glorious for most of the time although a hot windy 36 Deg C on Saturday to a cold windy 20 Deg C  on Sunday was unusual.  The golf course was in great condition and all of the social events went like clockwork.  Thanks to John for organising all the wine (kindly donated by Porter & Co and Kilikanoon), to Bruce & Huddo for the Sunday BBQ and to the Stu / Glenn musical duo for entertainment on both Saturday and Sunday.

There was fantastic support from our Committee for the event organisation – especially Stu, our Secretary. The golf, scoring and the cart organisation all worked well for all 4 rounds.  All mainly due to Stu’s spreadsheets and our interface with MiScore.

The Sponsor’s Day was exciting with a number of sponsors attending and the Stealth Team taking out the President’s Trophy.  All of the generous sponsors ensured that we met budget and, importantly, did not suffer a loss. 

Thanks also go out to the Clare Golf Club for their volunteers upstairs and the Pro (Phil) running the golf course. The Country Club was very accommodating with rooms and use of facilities.

Congratulations to James Lunnay as the overall winner on Saturday & Sunday, and the new holder of the Stealth Trophy!  A well earned return to form.

Here is a summary of all the main results:

Pre-Tournament:

Matchplay Trophy: 1st = Alistair Macdonald, 2nd = Darren Griffiths, 3rd = Benn Cox, 4th = John Elliott.

SAOGA Club Championship:

• C Grade: 1st = Kathy Cunynghame, 2nd = Theo van Mil

• B Grade: 1st = Andrew Reid, 2nd = Rob Mulder

• A Grade: 1st = Benn Cox, 2nd = Stu Thomson

Thursday / Friday Winners:

JFK Cup (Thursday Stoke): 1st = Stu Thomson, 2nd = Mike Willis.

Presidents Cup (Friday Ambrose, 1st) =  Jim Stobie, Paul Edwards, Jai Brown, Chris Were.

Sponsors Cup (Friday Ambrose, 2nd) =  Annette Pearce, Carolyn Kernahan, Rob Pearce, James Prater.

Saturday / Sunday Winners:

NAGA = Paul Edwards

Halliburton Cup (Ambrose): 1st =  and Theresa Rodrigues, 2nd = Oliver Rodrigues and

Cavpower Cup (Most Consistent Golfer): Bruce Clark

RD Koch Trophy (Most Improved): 1st = Stu Thomson, 2nd = David Garrick

Major Trophies:

Drill Quip Cup (Eclectic): 1st = Samuel Garrick, 2nd = Andrew Hudson

Desert City Cup (Best Scratch Saturday + Sunday): 1st = Jai Brown, 2nd = Benn Cox

Ensign Trophy (Best Stableford on Saturday): 1st = James Prater, 2nd = Martin Henderson

SAOGA Cup (Best Stableford on Sunday): 1st = Kathy Cunynghame, 2nd = Lyndon Prior

Bardrill Cup (Ladies Best Overall Stableford on Saturday & Sunday): 1st = Helen Janetzki, 2nd = Carolyn Kernahan

Stealth Tools Cup (Best Overall Stableford on Saturday & Sunday): 1st = James Lunnay, 2nd = Stu Thomson, 3rd = David Garrick

In addition to all of the above trophy winners, 50 prize vouchers were won by 29 different players for various Nearest the Pin shots and Long Drives.

Again, many thanks to our generous sponsors who make the weekend possible and to those who donated prizes for the raffle on Saturday night.

The committee is already looking forward to the 2025 event, having already booked the Clare Country Club and the Clare Golf Course for the period 13th to 16th November 2025, as well as the Clare Golf club-room upstairs and the Saturday caterers again – so lock these dates into your diary now !

Mark Duerden, SAOGA President