Round 1 – At Southern VS Spring Valley (loss 6-1)

Pennant 2025 got off to a hot and windy start at Southern Golf Club. Playing Spring Valley would beat us in last years Division 3 final the team was hungry to start the season with a win.

It was great to see some familiar faces back for this year and also a Youth player moving up to Men’s pennant.

Ben Ellul our junior lead the team out at number 7 Ben got off to a solid start considering the nerves he was feeling but unfortunately his opponent was too good winning 4&3. Great experience for Ben and we look forward to his continued improvement at the slender age of 15.

Number 6 Matt Magurie was back in the pennant system after a few years off and it’s great to have the experience that Matt brings for others to feed off. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to play the clutch shots down the stretch and went down 2&1.

Number 5 Lee Collinson was coming off winning the club A grade match play on Saturday and that form carried over to the front 9 on Sunday but unfortunately his opponent raised his level and Lee’s dropped on the back nine to lose 3&1.

Number 4 Christian Bennett was once again back after a few years away from pennant. He has put on a few kilos over that time but in muscle. Well worth coming down to see him smack a few drivers around. With that extraordinary length comes great precision and that was on show coming out a 5&3 victor. Good to stay off the ‘OWEN’ list.

Number 3 Rory Wood a very familiar name in pennant circles was back for another year of pennant. Unfortunately today Rory had one of those days where nothing went right and was down big early but the match was fairly even after that his lost 5&4.

Number 2 James Bannan made a lot of pars early in his match unfortunately his opponent was dealing in birdies. When the birdies eventually dropped for James they were matched by his opponent and then the match concluded with a ridiculous chip in birdie from his opponent topped off his day. Eventually losing 4&3.

Number 1 Joel Mitchell one of our pros for this years season played their pro which he had 2 close loses to last season and this match was very close as well. Joel 2 down 4 to play won 15 and 16 to draw level before his opponent drove the 17th to put his bid in front. A couple of errant drives on the last Joel being worse off for a better shot sealed the match for Spring Valley. 

All up it was a 6-1 loss to start our season but we are very hungry to get on the winners board at Latrobe next Sunday.

Round 2 – At Latrobe VS Latrobe (Won 4-3)

A typical Melbourne day treated us at Latrobe heavy rain sunshine within 20 mins of each other.

Once again Ben Ellul lead the team out at number 7 with the benefit of his round 1 experience was 1 up thru 9. Continued to be 1up after 15 before his opponent made birdie and then an up and down that was 1 in 100 to take the lead going up the last. Both players reached the par 5 in 2 Ben had a difficult chip and his opponent putting for eagle. Ben wasn’t able to make birdie and his opponent would 2 putt to win 2up. Great learnings are coming from these experiences and a win is just around the corner for the young fella.

Number 6 Chris Bremner in for his first game of the season had an indifferent start missing the first green but chipping in for birdie set the tone for his round. He never looked back being 3up majority of the day and would win 3&2.

Number 5 Lee Collinson was in a very up and down match with Lee being 1 up most the day and when he won the 14th he would win 16 aswell to wrap it up 3&2.

Number 4 Christian Bennett was doing his best lumberjack impression and hitting most trees at the Latrobe. He was up against a young fella destined for tour school and was too classy all day to hand Christian a 4&2 loss.

Number 3 James Bannan apart from his opponent making birdie on the first which is a curse. Was never headed and took care of his young and inexperienced opponent to run out a 4/3 victory.

Number 2 Peter Poposki a former Latrobe member and staff member had great knowledge of the course and opponent. He got off the a slow start but when the driver started behaving he started to get on top. Was all square playing par 5 16th hit the green in 2 and a comfortable 2 putt he was 1up 2 to play. Rosanna already having 3 points on the board needed Peter to put the 4th on there against the old side. Exactly what he did with another beautiful drive and pitch to seal the victory.

Number 1 Joel Mitchell was all over the place early and we all know that Latrobe isn’t the course to be doing that. Being 4 down early he rallied back to 1 down thru 9. In an even back 9 Joel was 2 down with 2 to go short of the green needing to chip in and hit the hole with his chip to eventually lose 2&1.

Fortunately we come out with a 4/3 win one we definitely needed. A week off and then we are at home on 16/3/25 at 11.15am against The National.

Round 3 – At Home VS The National (Lost 5.5-1.5)

After a week off we played at home and unfortunately the weather gods were not kind at all. Few holes in there was a suspension in play for an hour or so before the greens were playable again.

Young Ben lead us out once again and was revealing in the poor conditions being 3up thru 9 holes he would continue his good play to win 4&3. Congratulations Ben one of many wins hopefully for RGC.

Lee once again played 6 was in an even game most of the day before unfortunately losing 2&1.

Next up Rory at number 5 he was 1 down thru 9 before being outclassed on the back nine to lose 5&3.

Christian playing number 4 was 3 down very early on before rallying back to 1 down with 5 to play that’s when his opponents putter got ridiculously hot and he would win 3&2.

Aaron playing at number 3 was a the closest match of the day with Aaron fighting back from a 3 hole deficit to hit the lead with 2 to play a classy birdie from his opponent on 17 drew the match back to even. Before 2 pars up 18 would leave the match finish as a tie. 

Number 2 James was out of sorts early and came up against an opponent would couldn’t miss a putt. 3 down most of the day he would lose 5&4.

Joel playing number 1 was 4 down early before rallying around the turn to get within 2 holes before eventually losing 3&2.

Unfortunately this result was not what we wanted a 5.5 to 1.5 loss at home. But we will get on the bus to The National next week and change our fortunes.

Round 4 – At the National VS Woodlands (Lost 4.5-2.5)

We headed to the National the long 1.5 hour drive with very good conditions when we arrived. 

Ben once again set the tone at number 7 with a brilliant front running performance to win 2&1. 2 wins in a row let’s make it 3 next week.

Matt was following Ben and unfortunately ran into an opponent who must of had somewhere to be and definitely played like it Matt would lose 7&5.

Chris playing 5 was up early and then things got very tight down the last few holes. His opponent had a chance to win the match on the last but a halved match was the outcome and a fair one at that.

Christian playing number 4 must of been a bit pumped on the 1st tee because he hit his drive 380m to leave a short pitch to the par 5 opening hole. His good golf would continue throughout the day and he would win 4&2.

Aaron played 3 and got off to the worst start imaginable losing the first 4 holes we all know it’s a long way back after that. But credit to Aaron he clawed his opponent back but just run out of holes eventually losing 2&1.

James played number 2 and like Matt his opponent was making birdies all over the place being 5 under thru 11 holes. James not playing bad golf although the 2nd shot on 8th hole was one of the worst shots played all day see his caddy for further details. He would eventually lose 5&4.

Joel playing number 1 needed to win so that we could scrap a 3.5-3.5 draw. He was in a tight match the whole day and taking notes for his upcoming pro tournament this week. Unfortunately some poor putting down the stretch from Joel handed his opponent a 2up victory.

We unfortunately lost 4.5-2.5 we are currently sitting towards the bottom of the ladder but optimistic that we can stay in division 2 and avoid relegation. Next week we are at Spring valley vs southern 12.10 off 1st tee.

Round 5 – At Spring Valley VS Huntingdale (Lost 7-0)

Off to Spring Valley where the wind was blowing quite strongly greens were fast making this day a real test.

Number 7 was Brett Nagel in for his first game of the season a shakey start was his undoing fighting back to eventually lose 2&1. Young Ben was hunting for his 3rd straight win was in a very tight tussle for majority of the day before his southern opponent pulled away on the back nine to lose 3&2. 

Number 5 was Chris was got out of the blocks quick 2up thru 2 but his opponent would strike the lead by the turn and continue his good play to down Chris 3&2.

Number 4 Lee was hoping to use his previous Spring Valley experience to lift himself over the line but unfortunately was like a few other guys never in the hunt to lose 4&3.

Number 3 was Christian Bennett who raised a few eyebrows with driver off the first his aggressive game served him well on the front 9 but the experience of his ex pro opponent was too much to handle losing 3&2.

Number 2 Peter was down early and was 1 down on 14th tee box before his opponent showed of his slickly touch around the greens to hand Peter a 2&1 loss.

Number 1 James was playing a tour pro and got off to a bad start being 4 down thru 7 before winning 8,9 only to hand them back on 10,11 before losing 5&4.

Unfortunately it wasn’t the result we hoped for losing 7-0. The team morale is still high and we are hoping to win at least 1 of the next 2 games and avoid relegation. 

Round 5 – At Medway VS Huntingdale (Lost 5-2)

We headed out west to Medway to play Huntingdale who are one of the better teams in our division. 

Couple of changes in the team would have Steve Demmon playing his first game of the season at number 7 he got off to a solid start and the game was very even thru out the whole day unfortunately Steve lost 16 and 17 to go down 2&1.

Number 6 Matt Magurie was playing an opponent older than him which is rare and the young fella got to work real quick racing out to a couple hole advantage early and holding that advantage thru out the day to run out 4&3 victor.

Number 5 Chris Bremner was in a very even contest thru out the front 9 before a mixture of poor play from Chris and his opponent stepping it up the back nine would be the opposite and he unfortunately lost 5&3.

Number 4 Lee Collinson was a few down early in the match before clawing his way back to square with 5 to play unfortunately he would lose a couple of holes coming home  and lose 2&1.

Number 3 Ben Ellul was put up the order for some experience and reward for his good play in previous rounds. He unfortunately got off to a horrible start 4 down thru 4 and would play well from that point on but could never make headway on the margin losing 6&5. 

Number 2 Christian Bennett was struggling on the greens early and was 3 down at the halfway mark. He grinded the back nine out to eventually lose 3&2.

Number 1 James Bannan was looking to get off a good start and get a much needed win for the captain. His match never had a lead greater then 1 hole either way and fitting to the tightness of the match came up the 18th where his opponent found alot of trouble to hand him the win 1up.

Although it was a 5/2 loss the boys showed great fight and honestly the contest was closer than Huntingdale would have liked. A win next week against Medway is a must to stay up and avoid relegation.

Information for the 2025 season can be found by clicking HERE