The 41st SAOGA Golf Tournament was held at the Clare Golf Course & Country Club from 16th to 19th November 2023 and was a very successful event. 

The weather was glorious, the golf course looked great and all of the social events went like clockwork.  Thanks to Bruce & Huddo for the Sunday BBQ and to the Stu / Glenn musical duo for more entertainment.

There was fantastic support from our Committee for the event organisation – especially Stu, our Secretary. The golf and the carts all worked well – all rounds were prompt and the scoring was greatly optimised by most of our members now using the MiScore app.

The Sponsor’s Day was exciting with a new team on board and them wanting to attend all 4 days next year!  All of the generous sponsors ensured 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 accommodating and it is good to see that they have now renovated most (if not all ?) of the rooms.

Congratulations to Cathy Goldsworthy as the overall winner on Saturday & Sunday, and the new holder of the Stealth Trophy !

Here is a summary of all the main results:

In addition to all of the above trophy winners, 44 prize vouchers were won by 25 different players for various Nearest the Pin, Long Drive and Novelty Hole prowess displayed during the Friday, Saturday and Sunday games. 

Again, many thanks to our generous sponsors who make the weekend possible. Also, thank you to all who donated prizes for the raffle on Saturday night.

The committee is already looking forward to the 2024 event, having already booked the Clare Country Club, the Clare Golf Club (both the course and the club-room upstairs) and the Saturday caterers again for the period 14th to 17th November 2024 – so lock these dates into your diary now !

Mark Duerden, SAOGA President

Beautiful Spring weather was experienced for the 26 Members and 1 Guest who made the journey down to Goolwa. The course was in great condition and it was surprising that only 1 person played to handicap.

Lunch at the Pelican Bistro in the Goolwa Surf Club was an excellent choice with great food and spectacular views.

1st = Vera Mortimer 36 pts

2nd = John Mortimer 35 pts (on count-back)

3rd = Dave Elliss 35 pts

As usual, the next 6 place-getters also received a ball each, down to 33 points.

Nearest The Pins:

Note that the handicap split was set to roughly split the groups evenly.

5th 0-21HC: Benn Cox 9.0m, 22+HC: Alberto Ambrogi 5.0m

8th 0-21HC: John Elliott 1.8m, 22+HC: Nobody

10th 0-21HC: John Mortimer 4.5m, 22+HC: Nobody

14th 0-21HC: Darren Griffiths 3.1m, 22+HC: Nobody

Matchplay Results: 

The 1st/2nd Matchplay game was contested, with Rob Pearce defeating Benn Cox 3/2 and therefore taking the coveted Matchplay Trophy ! The 3rd/4th place match between James Lunnay and Mark Duerden is yet to take place.

Our next event is the Clare Weekend, from Thursday 16th to Sunday 19th November at the Clare GC. The SAOGA Committee hopes to see many of you there !

John Mortimer and Stu Thomson 🏌️⛳️

It was a damp course to play on today, with no motorised carts being permitted on the course and a couple of members falling over on the slippery grass verges – but at least the rain stayed away (mostly) !

The conditions were tough and the fairways were soggy but the greens were in good condition, we were grateful that The Vines let us play at all.

Most players struggled to reach 30 points (only 4 achieved this) but Jai was firing on all cylinders and came in 8 points ahead of his nearest rival – well done !

1st = Jai Brown 41 pts

2nd = Chris Skewes 33 pts

3rd = Andrew Reid 32 pts

As usual, the next 6 place-getters also received a ball each – all the way down to 27 points !

Nearest The Pins:

Note that the handicap split was set to roughly split the groups evenly.

3rd 0-21HC: Darren Griffiths 1.5m, 22+HC: Annette Pearce 6.5m

6th 0-21HC: Al Macdonald 4.5m, 22+HC: Stuart Carnell 5.0m

10th 0-21HC: Jim Day 3.0m, 22+HC: Nobody

14th 0-21HC: Jai Brown 1.5m, 22+HC: Nobody

Matchplay Results:

The 2 Semi-finals Matchplay games were contested today, with Rob Pearce defeating James Lunnay 2/1 and Benn Cox defeating Mark Duerden on the 19^th hole (not IN the 19^th hole, ie, the bar !), so Rob & Benn will have one more match to play for the Trophy and James & Mark will play off for 3^rd place.

Our next round is on Sunday 24th September at South Lakes GC

Stu Thomson 🏌️⛳️

We have all heard the stories about how difficult this course can be ! Well, it didn’t disappoint with strong winds buffeting the 26 Members who took on this challenging layout.

Despite the conditions there were some great scores posted by some and all should be congratulated for turning up. Food in the Clubhouse was very good and the Pro Shop made a generous donation of balls for use as prizes.

We also welcomed a new member to our group, Theo van Mil, who was playing his first game to obtain an official handicap.

Results 

1st = Frank Topolnjak 40 pts

2nd = Mark Duerden 38 pts

3rd = Jai Brown 37 pts (on count-back)

As usual, the next 6 place-getters also received a ball each.

NTPs – only 8 players hit tee shots which landed on any of the Par 3 greens all day !! Note that the handicap split was lifted to roughly split the groups evenly.

3rd 0-26HC: Nobody, 27+HC: Nobody

8th 0-26HC: Darren Griffiths 4.2m & James Lunnay 5.5m, 27+ HC: Nobody

15th 0-26HC: Andrew Reid 7.5m & Marcus Kernahan 8.5m, 27+ HC: Cathy Goldsworthy 6.0m, Leon Mulder 6.2m & Brad Cunynghame 12.0m

17th 0-26HC: Jai Brown 4.0m & Marcus Kernahan 10.0m, 27+ HC: Nobody 

Our next round is on Sunday 23rd July at North Adelaide GC (South Course)

John Mortimer and Stu Thomson 🏌️⛳️

A small field of 12 Members enjoyed a great day of golf  at this picturesque course. A very cool start of 3 degrees 😱 gave way to a sunny 13 degrees with no wind – awesome golf conditions.

The course was set up for their Club Championships the day before so it was challenging ! Only  Darren played to handicap with  36pts off a handicap of 10 ! Well done Darren – although that score did result from quite a few lucky bounces off trees etc, apparently …

The course presented very well but it could be our last game at this club as the number of attendees was very low, both this year and in 2022. Therefore, the committee have decided to move the May monthly game to West Lakes GC next year.

2 matchplay games were contested at this event, with Bruce Clark defeating Jai Brown 1-Up and John Mortimer defeating James Lunnay 2-Up.

Results 

1st = Darren Griffiths 36 pts

2nd = John Mortimer 32 pts

3rd = Sandy Turnbull 31 pts

As usual, the next 6 place-getters also received a ball each.

NTPs – only 5 tee shots landed on the Par 3 greens all day, out of a total of 60 tee shots (12 players hitting at 5 x Par 3 greens) !!

3rd 0-15HC: Nobody, 16+HC: Sandy Turnbull 1.0m

6th 0-15HC: Stu Thomson 5.0m, 16+ HC: Bruce Clark 4.0m

12th 0-15HC: Jai Brown 6.0, 16+HC: Nobody

15th 0-15HC: Darren Griffiths 6.0m, 16+ HC: Nobody 

17th 0-15HC: Nobody, 16+ HC: Nobody 

Our next round is on Sunday 18th June at Links Lady Bay GC

John Mortimer and Stu Thomson 🏌️⛳️

24 Members made the trip to Victor to take on this magnificent golf  course. Early showers dampened the spirits for the first couple of holes but then the rest of the round was dry and enjoyed by all.

Only pies, sandwiches and toasties for lunch as they are waiting for a new Chef to start in May.

No matchplay games contested at this event.

Results 

1st = Vera Mortimer 39 pts

2nd = Tony van Wyk 38 pts

3rd = Leon Mulder 37 pts

As usual, the next 6 place-getters also received a ball each.

NAGA = Stu Thomson with 20 points.

NTPs:

3rd 0-19HC: Wolf Engel 5.0m, 20+HC: Marty Goldsworthy 2.0m

7th 0-19HC: Kevin Turnbull 3.5m, 20+ HC: Leon Mulder 5.4m

10th 0-19HC: Nobody, 20+HC: Nobody

14th 0-19HC: Nobody, 20+ HC: Nobody 

Our next round is on Sunday 14th May at Barossa Valley GC.

John Mortimer & Stu Thomson 🏌️⛳️

A smaller field of 24 members enjoyed perfect weather for our round in the heart of the Barossa Valley. The Course is quite challenging and any errant shot can spell big trouble for your scorecard. Only 3 members played to or above their handicaps, the golf course being the winner on the day.

And the BBQ lunch after the game was enjoyed by all – well, we didn’t hear any complaints being raised !

Special mentions to Kathy’s first win after turning amateur this year (she took home the Calloway Cup in Clare last November), and to Benn with a great round of 37 points off a handicap of 3 (that’s a gross score of only 2 over the card) !

Also 2 matchplay games: Benn Cox beat John Mortimer 4/3 and Andrew Reid beat Al Macdonald 5/4.

Results 

1st = Kathy Cunynghame 38 pts

2nd = Benn Cox 37 pts

3rd = Kevin Turnbull 36 pts

As usual, the next 6 place-getters also received a ball each (down to 30 points).

NTPs:

7th 0-19HC: Stu Thomson 6.0m, 20+HC: Nobody

11th 0-19HC: John Elliott 3.5m, 20+ HC: Frank Topolnjak 11.0m

13th 0-19HC: Kevin Turnbull 6.6m, 20+HC: Nobody

16th 0-19HC: Al Macdonald 3.5m, 20+ HC: Cathy Goldsworthy 2.0m 

Our next round is on Sunday 16th April at Victor Harbor GC.

John Mortimer 🏌️⛳️

One of our largest fields at a monthly game in recent years, of 37 Members and 1 guest, contested this challenging links-style course for our second round of the year. With only 4 members playing to or above handicap the course offered the biggest challenge of the day, not surprising considering the recently cored greens and the thick rough swallowing any errant shots – and only the bold were prepared to take on the snake community in the latter ! 

The course was in reasonably good shape (apart from the greens, but they’ll recover soon enough) and the food & service in the restaurant afterwards was excellent, as always.

Thanks to those who stayed for the AGM (which was completed in under 6 minutes so not a big ask !) and prize-giving.

1st = Annie Gower 37 points;

2nd = Frank Topolnjak (last year’s winner) on 36 points;

3rd (on count back) = John Elliott on 36 points.

The next 6 place-getters also received a ball each.

NTPs:

5th 0-19HC: James Lunnay 19.0m (really ?!), 20+HC: Helen Janetzki 7.0m

9th 0-19HC: Benn Cox 5.0m, 20+ HC: Lyndon Prior 1.0m

12th 0-19HC: Oska Wyness 8.5m, 20+HC: Garry Odgers 14.0m

14th 0-19HC: Darren Griffiths 0.9m, 20+ HC: Kathy Cuninghame 1.5m 

Our next round is on Sunday March 19th at Tanunda Pines.

Stu Thomson 🏌️⛳️

Darren shot a fantastic score of 42 to be only 4 strokes over par – well done ! Lyndon Prior was second on 41 points and Benn Cox was 3rd on 40 points – great scores !

This game was used as a trial run of the new MiScore system which, after a few teething problems at the start, seemed to work quite well with most players participating – so thanks to all of you for persisting with this !

A full field for the season opener on this challenging golf course with 72 bunkers and 14 Lakes & ponds just waiting to welcome any errant shots.

The Clubhouse facilities were excellent as was the food in the Bistro.

Looking down the 1st and 10th Fairways from the balcony:

Results:

1st = Darren Griffiths with 42 points;

2nd = Lyndon Prior with 41 points;

3rd = Benn Cox with 40 points.

The next 6 place-getters also received a ball each – down to 36 points.

NTPs:

2nd 0-19HC: Chris Skewes 2.7m, 20+HC: Nobody

5th 0-19HC: Tony Harrison 10.5m, 20+HC: Andrew Hudson 7.0m

7th 0-19HC: Jai Brown 1.0m, 20+HC: Nobody

13th 0-19HC: Darren Griffiths 3.5m, 20+HC: Peter Green 12.0m

17th 0-19HC: Jim Day 9.5m, 20+HC: Jim Stobie & Rob Mulder both 7.0m

Our next stop is the mighty Mt Compass on Sunday February 12th (including AGM).

John Mortimer 🏌️⛳️