Sport
12 June, 2023
Women’s Golf Pennant Team Breaks Drought
Submitted by Wendy Hewitt The Women’s Pennant team of Warracknabeal Golf Club won the 2023 Wimmera District Golf Association Pennant competition. The group defeated Kaniva/Serviceton in the championship match on Monday at the Horsham Golf Club...
Submitted by Wendy Hewitt
The Women’s Pennant team of Warracknabeal Golf Club won the 2023 Wimmera District Golf Association Pennant competition.
The group defeated Kaniva/Serviceton in the championship match on Monday at the Horsham Golf Club.
The Warracknabeal Golf Club was thrilled to win this prized trophy after more than 20 years finally.
Five Wimmera teams competed in the six weeks event, including Warracknabeal, Horsham, Rainbow/Jeparit, Stawell, and Serviceton/Kaniva.
The event was a matchplay handicap event, with four players per team and five players in the final.
The five venues are greens and scrapes courses, each requiring specific skills and players to be adaptable to different surfaces.
In round one, played at Horsham, Warracknabeal defeated Rainbow/Jeparit by 4-0 in a rematch of 2022 grand final, with a reversal of results and a victory for the Warracknabeal team.
Warracknabeal had the bye in round two. They hosted round three and comfortably defeated Stawell by 4-0.
In round four at Kaniva, the club had a significant loss to ladder leaders, the undefeated Kaniva/Serviceton, by 0-4.
The round five match at Stawell against Horsham was an important game.
Warracknabeal was even on points with Horsham, so this match would determine which team would play Kaniva/Serviceton in the final.
A determined Warracknabeal side defeated Horsham 3-1.
The final was played at Horsham in excellent conditions. It's a beautiful course to play on and favored Warracknabeal players as their course has greens and bunkers, unlike Kaniva (greens only) and Serviceton, a scrapes course.
However, Warracknabeal's last meeting with this team ended severely, so the pressure was on.
The Warracknabeal team was Wendy Hewitt, Cindy Marsh, Shirley Liersch, Beth Preston, and Maree Heenan.
The playing order in the final requires the two fifth players to hit off first, then the fourth and third players and the number one and two players hit off last.
When number one and two players, Wendy and Cindy, reached the 14th hole, they heard that Maree Heenan and Shirley Liersch both had won.
Things were looking good, but the Warracknabeal team still needed another win. The other three matches, played by Beth, Cindy, and Wendy, were all still very close.
While Cindy and Wendy were about to tee off on the 16th hole, the great news was texted through that Beth had won her match, and Warracknabeal had won the Wimmera Pennant final.
A fantastic effort by the team; everyone played so well when it counted.
The Warracknabeal players were very thankful to other members who supported the team. Mary Massey, Vicki Hinkley, and Janice Midgley acted as caddies for the day.
The emergency player for the final was the club's lady president, Carolyn Morcom, who was at the final match to cheer the team.
Carolyn had an important win the week before against Horsham to help clinch that vital match.
The squad for the six weeks was Wendy Hewitt, Cindy Marsh, Carolyn Morcom, Shirley Liersch, Beth Preston, and Maree Heenan (Pennant Captain).
The team captain congratulated and thanked the players for putting their hands up to play in the competition.
The club also thanked the Horsham Golf Club for hosting the final and the Wimmera Golf Association for organizing the event and keeping this special format alive in the Wimmera. Team Captain Wendy Hewitt said it's an opportunity to play on different courses around the Wimmera, all with their own challenging features, and to meet players from around our district.
It was so good to have the Warracknabeal men field two teams in the Wimmera Men's Pennant competition for the first time in many years. One men's team made it to the grand final, which was fabulous.
Results:
Maree Heenan (hcp 35) Def. Maree VanKempen (36) 3/2, Shirley Liersch (27) Def. Donna Vivian (31) 7/5, Beth Preston (29) Def. Pam VanKempen (36) 2/1, Cindy Marsh (22) vs Chloe Mulraney (22) unfinished, Wendy Hewitt (17) vs Fleur Finlayson (20) Unfinished.