Men's Club Championship Semi Finals Set.

News Posted: 21st June 2019

Mens Club Championship – Quarter Final match Reviews.

Robert Geddes vs Mike Stein.

What an absolute battle between these two Gentleman as they went all the way to the 20th hole to get a victor. The front nine was back and forth with the score moving from A/S to 1 up for both players during play on the front 9. A Birdie on 2nd and on 4th got Mike into the lead only to be pegged back shortly after. Robert won 2 on the bounce at 8 and 9 to take a 1 hole advantage into the back 9. The trend continued as they traded holes in a tight match and on the 16th Tee, Robert was in the good position of 2 up with 3 to go. Mike rallied and played some steady golf to Par the last 3 holes coming in, which was enough to get 2 wins and get back to A/S and force extra holes after Robert missed a 8ft putt uphill for the victory on 18. 1st extra hole seen Robert leave a birdie putt from 6ft just wide for the 2nd chance to win after Mike almost holed out from the bunker and left a gimme. In the end Robert held his nerve to secure the win on the 2nd extra hole in what turned out to be a very close affair between the two players, and was harsh for either one to lose the match.

David Mckenzie vs Kieren Fraser.

The highest quality match in terms of scoring of any quarter final, with 5 birdies between them and low scores. Both players were expecting a close match and that’s exactly how it played out.

A/S through 4 holes including a birdie 2 on the 2nd for David, was followed with his second birdie of the day on the 5th to take an early lead at 1 up. Steady par golf from David seen him sneak into a 2 up lead after 9 holes. They were trading wins on holes 11, 12, 13 and 14 with a flurry of birdies from the 2 players. Kieren birdied the 2 par 3’s 12 and 14, with David grabbing a birdie on 13 inbetween as he tried to fight off the comeback from the current champ. David kept his cool and got to Dormie 2 after both getting a par on 16th, and another par from David was enough to see him over the line and win the match 3&1. With David finishing his round on 1 over par, and Kieren only a few shots worse off this was an excellent standard of golf from both players.

Ross MacDougall vs Ernie Smith

Never an easy draw in the Club championships and this is no excepetion. A mistake or bad shot usually resulted in lose of hole here. 

Ross started the better and played his usual brand of no thrills, steady golf which is something Ernie is also usually renowned for. Some struggles off the Tee from Ernie and an excellent birdie on 2 from Ross seen Ernie slip to a 3 down situation as they got to the 7th Tee. One of the fiercest competitiors, Ernie is never one to back down from a challenge and tried to claw his way back into the match after being 4 down at the turn. A seesaw of hole wins seen Ernie chip in on the 12th from a blind position short and left, this gave Ernie a fighting chance, but Ross responded excellently by winning the 13th but then followed that up with a mistake on 14 to gift Ernie another hole. Ernie was back to just 3 down with 4 to play. An 8ft putt for the hole just went wide from Ernie on 15, only to then see Ross sink a similar length for a half which dented Ernie’s hopes. A Par on 16 was enough for Ross to secure the 4&2 victory and move onto the semi-finals.

Ramsay Hogg vs Alan Harcus.

Quite possibly the wettest match ever played. The joys of 2 players who work shifts.

There was an early trend over the first 6 holes, as Ramsay adapted to the torrential conditions quicker and got into his rhythm and was playing regulation golf and getting gimme pars while Alan kept having 6-8 foot putts to make for a half. This constant pressure along with the conditions gave Ramsay a really fast start as he went 5 up through 6 holes. Alan settled in and managed to get 1 hole back at the 8th before going to the turn 4down to Ramsay. Alan had a chance to putt for a 3 to win the hole on the 10th, but made an error in his pace and ended up 3 putting which allowed Ramsay to sneak a half after being in trouble off the tee. Another half on 11, was followed by a win on 12 for Ramsay to return to 5 up after an excellent 2 putt from distance. Going up 13, Ramsay was in a great position at the front of the green in 2, with a putter in his hand and Alan was down to the left with a tricky chip to come. In true match play style, Ramsay would go onto 3 putt from distance while Alan made a majestic chip followed by a 6 foot putt for the hole win. This spurred Alan on as he went onto Par the 14th and 15th which was enough to win the holes and bring him back to just 2 down. Ramsay managed to regroup by this stage and both players made regulation Par on 16th to make it Dormie 2. A good 2 putt from Ramsay on 17 was enough to secure the 2&1 win over Alan, in what was a determined comeback from the Ex-champ which had the Captain rattled and relieved to get over the line.

Semi Final Line up is as follows.

No player left has ever won the Club Championship before so a new name will be on it this year. 

Robert Geddes vs David Mckenzie

Ross MacDougall vs Ramsay Hogg