The winners of the 2023 pennant season were determined on 29 May at Hawks Nest. On a beautiful day 8 teams met to determine the winners of the Division 1,2,3 and Bronze pennants. Beryl Tobin, Life member, was on site for the competitions and assisted in the presenting of the Pennant Shields.
In Division 1, Horizons took on Newcastle. This was a real arm wrestle with the contest still not decided until the last match was played. Horizons started well with Amy Squires & Deirdre Brander grabbing wins against two very experienced Newcastle players –Jane MacDonald & Jill Blenkey. Newcastle’s Jenny Thompson & Jennie Bellamy were able to even the contest back up with good wins against Tracy Wood & Jillian Convoy. The next result went to Horizons, with the experience of Lorraine Ramsay shining through, with her first win of the season, in her crucial match against Rachael Kitching. This left two matches still to be decided. In match 5, Tamara Johansen needed 19 holes to defeat Ann McClintock from Horizons to even the contest once more. The final match went to Horizons’ Jane Lawlor winning a tight match on the 17th against Colleen O’Brien. What a final! Horizons def Newcastle 4-3.
Division 2 found Nelson Bay taking on a strong Waratah team. In this contest Nelson Bay had higher GA handicaps for all but 1 player, but this was no hinderance to the majority of their matches against Waratah. Renay Robertson & Joanne Brown from Waratah were able to get a win & tie respectively, from their matches. Nelson Bay had wins by Fran Giudes, Jen Bez, Rita Fitzgerald, Sharon Dunn & Lyn Robertson. Nelson Bay def Waratah 5.5- 1.5.
In Division 3, Nelson Bay faced a tough opposition in their matches against Muree. With the Muree team having GA handicaps a bit lower than Nelson Bay, it was on the cards that they would need something special to beat this experienced Muree team. Muree had wins by Sue Robertson, Helen Ratley, Karen Clark & Wendy Cotton. Nelson Bay’s Nicola Bethwaite was able to prevent the team getting defeated 5-0 with a win against Yvonne Sullivan. Muree def Nelson Bay 4-1
The Bronze competition saw last years winners, Pacific Dunes taking on Belmont. Our first set of matches for the second running of the Bronze pennant final had one team keen to defend their 2022 title, & the other having their best win in the competition in the last round to sweep past the rest to secure their place in the finals. Karen Sheargold, Robyn Lunn, Lisa Slade & Kim Billington from Belmont had wins and Jan Ayre from Pacific Dunes fought back well from 3 down with 3 holes to go to secure a tie in her match against Jen Powers. Belmont def Pacific Dunes 4.5-0.5.
Congratulations to all competitors. A special thanks to Hawks Nest for their wonderful support on this very important day.
