The weather was perfect for the 25 members (and 1 guest) who made the trip to the Barossa Valley to contest our return to this course. Having not played there for a few years, it’s great to see the improvements that they have made due to a steady water supply and course care.

This was also the first time we introduced a bit of variety by playing a “Par” competition instead of using the usual Stableford scoring. It seems that everyone coped with this change and no complaints have been received by the committee (so far) !

Surprisingly, only 2 members played to their handicap, most players found it quite challenging.

Results (Par competition):

Winner = Frank Topoljnak with square;

2nd = Sandy Turnbull also with square (on count back);

3rd = Bruce Clark with -1.

NTPs:

2nd 0-21HC: John Mortimer 11.0m, 22+HC: James Prater 15.0m

11th 0-21HC: Nobody, 22+HC: Nobody

13th 0-21HC: Darren Griffiths 4.2m, 22+HC: Frank Topolnjak 10.0m

15th 0-21HC: Marty Goldsworthy 3.0m, 22+HC: Sandy Turnbull 4.5m

Matchplay Competitions:

Group A: Al Macdonald defeated Mat Kennedy 4/3

Group B: Bruce Clark defeated Darren Griffiths 4/2 and Mark Duerden & James Prater drew their match.

Our next game will be at Victor Harbor GC on Sunday 19th April.

John Mortimer & Stu Thomson

35 Members contested this once awesome course which has sadly deteriorated in recent years. Course prep was sporadic with wet greens and fairways, as well as missing tee markers on some tees. And some of the tracks between the greens and tees required 4WD buggies to negotiate !

However some great scores were achieved (with 3 players scoring in 40’s), despite the rough swallowing hundreds of balls.

Sadly, the food in the bar area was very poor quality and it was disappointing to have this served to us take-away style, as if we were in a fish & chip shop ! The committee will be looking for an alternative venue for its AGM next year.

The SAOGA Annual General Meeting was held in the Bar Area after the game, with the existing Committee members being re-elected and Carolyn Kernahan joining the Committee.

Results:

Winner = Ewan McDonald with 41 points;

2nd (on countback) = Marty Goldsworthy with 40 points;

3rd = Kris Rodrigues with 40 points.

The next 6 players were awarded a ball each, down to 32 points.

NTPs:

5th 0-22HC: Kris Rodrigues 6.0m, 23+HC: Ewan McDonald 5.0m

9th 0-22HC: Stu Thomson 1.0m, 23+HC: Carolyn Kernahan 1.5m

12th 0-22HC: Bruce Clark 2.0m, 23+HC: Leon Mulder 3.9m

14th 0-22HC: Marty Goldsworthy 15.0m, 23+HC: Helen Janetzki 20.0m

Matchplay Competitions:

Group A: Al Macdonald defeated Aston Bradbrook 1-Up, Andrew Reid defeated Stu Thomson 2/1

Our next stop is the Sandy Creek course on Sunday 22nd March.

John Mortimer & Stu Thomson ⛳️

A hot round of Golf for the 26 who took on this Challenging South Coast Layout.

With 85 Bunkers and 14 Lakes (mostly dry at present), this course demands respect and any errant shot will be punished.

Mark Duerden matching 2025 winner Marty Goldsworthy’s 45 points with an excellent round of Golf, Richard Wheare and Aston Bradbrook with 40 points each also had great rounds .

Results:

Winner = Mark Duerden with 45 points;

2nd = Richard Wheare with 40 points (on count back);

3rd = Aston Bradbrook with 40 points.

NTPs:

2nd 0-24HC: Nobody, 25+HC: Liza Wedge 3.0m

5th 0-24HC: Graeme Wheare 5.0m, 25+HC: Nobody

7th 0-24HC: John Elliott 0.5m, 25+HC: Nobody

13th 0-24HC: Al Mac 5.8m, 25+HC: Richard Wheare 15.0m

17th 0-24HC: Marty Goldsworthy 7.0m, 25+HC: Jim Stobie 10.0m

Matchplay Competitions:

Group A: Aston Bradbrook defeated Stu Thomson 5/4 & Al Macdonald defeated Andrew Reid 2/1

Group B: No matches

Our next stop is the mighty Mt Compass on Sunday February 22nd (including AGM) – we’d appreciate it if as many of you as possible will join us at this event.

John Mortimer & Stu Thomson⛳️

11 teams (and one single player !) contested this 4BBB Competition on a great day at Links Lady Bay Golf Club – not too hot, no rain and not much wind – were we at the correct golf club ?  

It was a close battle at the end, with only 2 points separating the 1st and 3rd place teams, but Tony Carter and Chris Belshaw took the trophy with a very respectable score of 49 points !

The Course was quite dry but was generally in great condition and some other good scores were posted.

All enjoyed the day, with a slightly higher turnout for this event than last year – which will be repeated at Links Lady Bay again in early December 2026 – the exact date TBA.

We welcomed Aston Bradbrook (the grandson of Dennis Sisely’, one of our Life Members) into the club and Mat Kennedy (John Kennedy’s son – we play a stroke round at Clare for the JFK Trophy & Medal) back to the club after a long absence overseas.

And we also congratulated Haydn Funnell on achieving an official handicap just before this game.

Results:

1st (and Summer Cup winners) = Tony Carter and Chris Belshaw with 49 points;

2nd = Sylvia & Uwe Ebert with 48 points;

3rd = Mark Duerden & Andrew Reid with 47 points.

NTPs: 

3rd 0-20HC: Darren Griffiths 9.0m, 21+HC: Mark Duerden 3.0m

8th 0-20HC: Mat Kennedy 6.5m, 21+HC: Sandy Turnbull 12.5m

15th 0-20HC: Tony Carter 1.2m, 21+HC: Uwe Ebert 13.0m

17th 0-20HC: Stu Thomson 6.0m, 21+HC: Theo van Mil 14.0m 

Our next event will be at the McCracken Country Club on Sunday 18th January 2026.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year in the meantime !

Stu Thomson 🏌️⛳️

The 43rd SAOGA golf tournament (our 7th event at Clare) was held at the Clare Golf Course and the Clare Country Club from 13th to 16th November and was a very successful event.  The weather was good for most of the time although the nights were very cool. The course was in fantastic condition – probably due to the new groundskeeper.   However, the greens were hard to read for most golfers.

We had 13 players in the Stroke round on Thursday, 40 players in the Ambrose round on the Friday Sponsors Day and 34 players on both the Saturday and Sunday stableford rounds.

Big thanks go to Stu for organising most of the event and to Huddo for organising all the meals. The contribution from our major sponsors and from Bruce and Huddo for the Sunday barbecue was greatly appreciated.  The music from the band on Sunday –  Glenn (lead singer), Stu (12- and 6-string guitars), Jai (6-string guitar), Bruce (ukulele) and Steph (keyboard) was fantastic – a great singalong night. 

Helen Janetzki took out the major Stealth Trophy with a spectacular score on Sunday, and a further 16 trophies were shared around:

In addition to all of the above trophy winners, 48 prize vouchers were won by 28 different players for various Nearest the Pin shots and Long Drives, etc.

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 looking forward to the 2026 event, having already booked the Clare Country Club and the Clare Golf Course for the period 12th to 15th November 2026 – so lock these dates into your diary now !

Mark Duerden, SAOGA President & Stuart Thomson, SAOGA Secretary

IF YOU HAVE READ THIS POST, could you please send an email to saogasecretary@gmail.com to let us know that people do actually look at this website (because we’re convinced that they don’t !)

It was a cool overcast start to the morning, turning into a great sunny afternoon finish for the 28 members who took on the challenge at the Vines of Reynella golf course.

The course beat up a lot of the field with Richard and Liz the only ones to play better than handicap and with 17 players below 30 points.

The clubhouse Bistro’s menu selection was impressive and the food was good quality 😊

Winner = Richard Wheare with 42 points

2nd = Liza Wedge with 40 points

3rd = Andrew Reid with 35 points

The next 6 players were awarded a ball each, down to 30 points.

NTPs:

3rd 0-24HC: Andrew Reid 2.2m, 25+HC: Richard Wheare 6.0m

6th 0-24HC: Martin Henderson 8.5m, 25+HC: Helen Janetzki 18.0m

10th 0-24HC: Darren Griffiths 7.5m, 25+HC: Garry Odgers 5.0m

14th 0-24HC: Stu Thomson 8.0m, 25+HC: Theo van Mil 2.0m

Matchplay results:

Chris Skewes and Lyndon Prior played their 3rd-4th Playoff Match today, with Chris winning 5/3.

The next SAOGA round will be at the Clare GC on Thursday 13th November, followed by 3 more days of golf and socialising.

John & Stu 🏌️⛳️

23 Members made the trip down the Fleurieu to take on this challenging layout near McLaren Vale.

We’re sure everyone would like to play this one again as course knowledge is a must on some of these holes. It was pretty ordinary weather and this produced some ordinary results to match, with no one managing to play to handicap. 

Winner = Liza Wedge with 33 points

2nd = Chris Belshaw (on countback) with 32 points

3rd = Frank Sampson (also on count back from 4th place) with 32 points

The next 6 players were awarded a ball each, down to 29 points.

NTPs:

3rd 0-25HC: Song Curtis 5.0m, 26+HC: Nobody

5th 0-25HC: Tony Carter 2.9m, 26+HC: Garry Odgers 3.3m

12th 0-25HC: Chris Skewes 1.3m, 26+HC: James Prater 7.5m

14th 0-25HC: Matt Curtis 2.3m, 26+HC: Liza Wedge 4.5m

16th 0-25HC: Andrew Reid 6.5m, 26+HC: Frank Sampson 17.0m

Matchplay results:

No Matchplay games at this event, but Darren Griffiths defeated Lyndon Prior in their Semi-Final match at The Pat on Friday 22nd August.

The next SAOGA round will be at the Vines GC on 12th October (Note that this was originally scheduled for 5th October but the Vines GC advised this week that they can no longer accommodate us on this date).

John & Stu 🏌️⛳️

19 members enjoyed the lovely weather for our round on this challenging layout, including 1 new member Haydn Funnell.

The course came up pretty well (considering the amount of rain we had  during the week) and some great scores were achieved, with 11 players scoring 30 or more points.

Winner = Chris Belshaw with 41 points

2nd = Al Macdonald (on countback) with 40 points

3rd = Alberto Ambrogi with 40 points

The next 6 players were awarded a ball each, down to 32 points.

NTPs:

2nd 0-22HC: Jai Brown 6.5m, 23+HC: Chris Belshaw 5.0m

5th 0-22HC: Darren Griffiths 2.0m, 23+HC: Nobody

12th 0-22HC: John Elliott 1.0m, 23+HC: Nobody

16th 0-22HC: Al Macdonald 1.1m, 23+HC: Alberto Ambrogi 19.0m

Matchplay results:

This game: Darren Griffiths defeated Andrew Reid 2/1, Chris Skewes defeated Jai Brown 3/2.

Earlier games: Stu Thomson defeated Al Macdonald 2/1 at Grange, Lyndon Prior defeated Mark Duerden 2/1 at The Pat.

So the Semi-Finals will be as follows: Stu Thomson vs Chris Skewes, and Lyndon Prior vs Darren Griffiths.

The next SAOGA round will be at Willunga GC on 31st August

John & Stu 🏌️⛳️

Once again we were extremely lucky with the weather, enjoying another dry round for the field of 24 players.

Considering that this is a public and very popular course, it was in pretty reasonable shape. 14 players scored 30 or more but with only 2 playing better than their handicap.

With the amount of rain we have had the sand-belt was the only place to be and generally everyone enjoyed their round.

Davis Lindsay was welcomed to the club as a new member.

Results:

Winner = Andrew Reid with 40 points;

2nd = Theo van Mil with 38 points;

3rd = James Prater with 35 points.

The next 6 players were awarded a ball each, down to 33 points (on count-back).

NTPs:

2nd 0-22HC: Andrew Reid 3.5m, 23+HC: Nobody

5th 0-22HC: Darren Griffiths 5.5m, 23+HC: Nobody

12th 0-22HC: Lyndon Prior 5.5m, 23+HC: Peter Green 2.5m

16th 0-22HC: Alistair Macdonald 7.5m, 23+HC: Chris Belshaw 1.1m

No Matchplay matches were undertaken at this game.

Our next game is at North Adelaide (South Course) on Sunday July 20th.

John & Stu ⛳️

25 Members enjoyed SAOGA’S return to this Challenging Golf Course.

Despite the massive building works going on, the course was in pretty good shape and some great scores were posted. Our timing was off by a couple of weeks as the very flash-looking new clubhouse is due to open at the end of May – so we’ll have to wait until this time next year to enjoy these new facilities !

Chris Belshaw was welcomed back as a rejoining member.

Results:

Winner = Richard Wheare with 40 points;

2nd = Peter Green (on countback) with 40 points;

3rd = Chris Skewes with 38 points.

The next 6 players were awarded a ball each, down to 32 points.

NTPs:

3rd 0-20HC: Chris Skewes 4.2m, 24+HC: Chris Belshaw 2.5m

7th 0-20HC: Marcus Kernahan 2.5m, 24+HC: Frank Topolnjak 7.0m

9th (replaced by 1.5th hole) 0-20HC: John Mortimer 1.4m, 24+HC: Frank Sampson 1.4m

13th 0-20HC: Matt Curtis 4.0m, 24+HC: Theo van Mil 2.5m

14th 0-20HC: Graeme Wheare 6.0m, 24+HC: Alberto Ambrogi 4.0m

No Matchplay matches were undertaken at this game.

Our next game is at The Pat (West Beach) on Sunday June 15th.

John & Stu ⛳️