Recently the 2019 Australian Veterans Golfers Union held their championships in Launceston, Tasmania and 27 Nedlands Golf Club members made the flight and took part in the event, including:
R.Parkin, J.Parkin, C.Matson, J.Alexander, S.Noske, P.Noske, V. Caruso, Y.Caruso, B.Palmer, F.Palmer.Y.C.Chin, T.Chin, G.Hing, V.Tang, C.Bellemore, N.B.Thomas, S.Kelly, T.Morgan, J.Morgan, W.Trumble, B.Gardiner, R.Lee, I.Mumford, G.Parry, S.Wharton, C.Chung And P.Montgomery
Over 90 golf clubs across Australia participated in the annual event and Nedlands Golf Club finished third overall with only two Tasmanian clubs in front of them. In the cold and windy conditions of Tasmania, home advantage was a huge factor and the wind speeds were consistently high throughout the tournament adding to the difficulty for all the visiting golfers.
The championships were played over three days across three different courses with stroke / stableford options for mid to high handicappers.
Nedlands had a fine start before the competition even began with Tracy chin winning a golf trip to Thailand from Go-Golfing on the welcoming night.
In the first round there were some strong performances from Nedlands members with Jill Morgan carding a second place and Phil Montgomery leading the first round and second round eventually finishing fourth. Other good scores came from Bruce Palmer, Stewart Wharton and Gary Hing but the windy conditions and fierce competition meant they had to play exceptionally well to get a mention.
The best performance from the Nedlands cohort came from Cath Bellemore playing in her first AVGU championships she produced rounds of 83, 84 and 85 to beat the previous winner for three years in a row and defending champion Helen Pascoe from Victoria by one shot. It was a remarkable achievement and the club should be proud of her as this make her the number one player nationally in the veteran age group. Well done to her and personally I and the club would like to congratulate her. This is the first year that a trophy was engraved for the female winner and Cath will be the first golfer with her name on this prestigious trophy, well done again to Cath.
Finally to cap of a great week for Nedlands members Patricia Noske won a free entry into next year championships to be held in Yarrawonga, Victoria on the 29th November to 4th December 2020.
It was a great week for the members who was there and next year I would like more members to come and enjoy a great week of golf and holiday.
Please contact me if you are interested and want more information or talk to someone who was there this year.
Captain Joe Alexander / Mackenzie Buck