Monash Mixed Pennants refuse to lose with battling draw
Published on 7th June 2021 in UncategorisedMonash Country Club 2 1/2 Oatlands Golf Club 2 1/2
The Monash Mixed Pennants team were back playing at home this week against the table topping Oatlands team, who came with a very strong line-up. To the surprise of the Monash team, the opposition seemed to like the Monash green speed and came out of the traps quickly, with birdies in all six matches. Whilst Monash were giving it everything, at the end of the front nine it seemed that Oatlands had all the answers as they were 3 up in 2 matches, 4 up in another and square in one. However the Monash Mixed Pennants team just didn’t give up and started to come back in all the matches, with Monash managing to win two games on the 18th and halving another match to draw the match with Monash winning the reserve game.
With Monash Mixed Pennants being at home it was great to see a number of members coming out to watch the matches and I am sure they were entertained with some great golf.
Monash were led away by Nancy Fink and Cameron Fink, who played some great golf on the front nine to be seemingly in control at 3up. However the opposition had other ideas and got the match back to all square after 17. With the nerves jangling on the 18th, our Man of Steel Cameron Fink played a very controlled hole in regulation to get a par under pressure which the opposition were unable to match and we had our first point on the board with a one up win. Next off we had Angela Eksteen and Glenn Hooker who have played some brilliant golf this season to win both home and away. Whilst they started solidly, the opposition lady player had a great day playing some excellent chips and making very few errors. Angela and Glenn regrouped on the back nine and started to get close showing the form of previous matches however the opposition remained strong and we lost 2&1.Third off were Anne May and Russell Pearse, they met an opposition who played some great golf as a pairing. Having gone behind early, in true Monash Mixed Pennants fashion both Anne and Russell battled hard but when even a birdie wasn’t winning a hole, it proved too much on this occasion and we lost 3&2. At Number 2 we had Evie Lim and Dave Gregory, they started fairly solidly but the opposition were on fire and after 10 holes the Monash pair were 5 down. Both Evie and Dave kept showing the team spirit and stubbornness in refusing to give up, suddenly both our players hit form and the opposition started to struggle. A great tee shot on 14 to 6 feet by Evie to win 14 and a birdie from Dave on 15 got the match back to all square. Whilst Evie and Dave then lost the 16th, Ice Cool Evie then got pars on 17 and 18 to swing the match back to Monash for a one hole victory. In the Number 1 match we had Bets Gregory and Gareth Dawber, who started really well to go 2 up however the opposition team played some great golf to get back to square after nine. Bets and Gareth have been two of our in form players in the Monash Mixed Pennants Team, so we knew they would come on strong on the back nine. The match swung back and forward, eventually going down the last all square. Gareth hit a fantastic wedge to about 10 feet but unfortunately his birdie putt slipped past the hole and a half in pars led to a squared game and a halved match. In the reserve match Ingrid and Ian Burgess played some fantastic golf from the start and were always in control of this game. The shot of the day from Ian on 11 to about 10 feet, extended their lead and the result was never in doubt. The reserve match was sealed on 16 for a 4&2 win.
It was great to see so many Monash members around the 18th green to watch the last couple of matches come in and a massive thankyou to Adam Groom for all his help, Deepak for his assistance and Mark Bennett and the Bar team for the great service we received as always.
Whilst we cant now qualify for the play offs we look forward to our last match on Sunday 20th June, as we draw a close on a very enjoyable mixed pennants season.