Over the weekend of the 11th and 12th March the MELVISTA CUP was played on Saturday and the MIXED OPENING DAY event on Sunday. Both days saw fantastic Autumn weather with temperatures in the mid to high 20’s.
MELVISTA CUP
In the early 1930’s Melvista Avenue was known as Mackay Road up to Dalkeith Road and from there on it became Alice Road.
A competition was held among school children to come up with a “single” name. A youngster named Lapsley won the competition with MEL (Melvista Waters) and VISTA (View).
And so the Opening Day Trophy is named after the street running past the course/clubhouse – Melvista Avenue
98 players set out in their quest to win the 88th Melvista Cup and Season Opener. Some were trying to win the Cup for the second time. Included in the 2023 field were the following previous winners –:
Tony Slee (1972, 1980), Vince Caruso (1996), Paul Henderson (2002), Rob Viol (2016), Wayne Trumble (2018), Scott van Heurck (2020) and the defending champion Wilfred Ong.
Sponsorship was provided by Saint Quentin Dental courtesy of Past President Tim Tan and we thank Tim for his continued support.
Playing together in the morning, Adam McLaren (20 H’Cap) and Mark Matthews (9 H’Cap) had a friendly battle for the day’s honours with Mark finally prevailing.
After 9 holes Adam seemed to have it in the bag with 6 up and a 4 shot advantage over his playing partner, a lead he still held after 12 holes. After 17 holes both players were 5 up – so it was down to the last.
Mark had an excellent par (a plus) on the hardest hole on the course to Adam’s bogey (a half).
So, after an interesting tussle Mark prevailed with 6 up to Adam’s 5 up.
After the morning field had finished, these two were in charge. Bing Darmago (9) and Peter Glass (21) returned good scores of 1 up.
In the afternoon the defending champion, Wilfred Ong (11) arrived at the course and after reviewing the leaderboard put “the cue in the rack” ultimately signing for 7 down and a share of 84th position.
So who would be able to chase down the runaway leader?
What about “Sandy” Furness? After a loss on the first he played steadily and took out the best “A” grade prize.
Chris Glynn (22) reeled off 6 pluses in his first 9 holes to turn for home 5 up and well and truly in the hunt. Untimely losses on the 10th and 11th were not what he wanted and with a plus on the last he finished 3 up and was a deserved “C” Grade winner.
The Summer Cup sponsor, Phil Johnson (7) started from the 6th and with his putter weaving some magic around the greens, he was 4 up after his first 9 holes and with 5 holes to play victory was within reach. Bogeys on the 1st and 4th put paid to his chances. On his final hole, the 5th, a fine chip with the putter from 30 metres saw him finish with a plus and 5 up which snatched the runner- up prize from Adam McLaren.
Other good scores came from Bing Darmago (9), Peter Glass (21) Andy Lemessurier (18), and Craig Nelson (13), all on 1up.
Congratulations to the 2023 Melvista Cup winner, Mark Matthews. An excellent effort off a 9 handicap.
Once again, a big thankyou to Tim Tan for his continued sponsorship of the Melvista Cup – the Men’s Opening Day.
The Winners were-;
| WINNER | MARK MATTHEWS (9) | 6 up |
| Runner- up | Phil Johnson (7) | 5 up |
| “A” Grade | Gavin Furness (9) | 2 up |
| “B” Grade | Adam McLaren (20) | 5 up |
| “C” Grade | Chris Glynn (22) | 3 up |
| Best Gross | Edmund Hall (Scr) | Square |
| Best past winner | Jack Morris (21) | Square |
MIXED OPENING DAY
The Mixed Opening Day was played on Sunday 12th March and Cath Bellemore and Paul Baster continued their sponsorship of the event. A beautiful day for golf was welcomed by the 40 players (20 pairs) playing in a Mixed 4 Ball Multiplier Stableford event, an event where having no points on a hole is not a desirable outcome.
The 2022 winners were Joan Brown and Stuart Gicquel with 84 points who were unable to defend their title.
The stage was set to see if this year would produce a new winning combination. From the final scores it was a very keenly fought battle with the top four pairings in with a chance at some stage during the afternoon.
Tracy Chin (18) and YC Chin (23) spoilt their chances with 3 of those undesirable “no point” holes and finished 4th with 57 points.
Nikki Bellemore-Thomas (25) and Bean Goh (36) starting from the 8th, were going along steadily and roared into contention with 12 points on the 13th hole (the 2nd). Their run was stopped on their third last hole (the 5th) with an undesirable zero, signing for 59 points and the Bronze Medal.
Jan McFarlane (35) and John Mitchell (19) finished with 60 points which included an amazing total of 22 points on the 3rd/12th holes. Remember you are only meant to have 8 to play to your handicap. With one hole left to play, the 8th, a total of 2 or more points would have been a good result but the undesirable zero wrecked their chances of victory, settling for the Silver Medal.
Finally, to the winners – Veni Tang (21) and Vice-president Gary Hing (6) who finished the day with 62 points which was not a massive score given what had happened in past years but it showed that if you keep the undesirables off the card you can win Gold.
Congratulations Veni and Gary on winning the “Season Opener”.
Individual scores were below expectations given the weather with 3 people leading the way with 34 points – Yolande Caruso (26), Gary Hing (6) and Tim Song (16).
As an aside if the event had been a Mixed Four Ball Stableford the leader board would have looked something like this-
43 points Jan McFarlane (35) and John Mitchell (19).
41 points Qi Liu (34) and Tim Song (16), Tracy Chin (18) and YC Chin (23), Krystyna Knottnerus (21) and Tony Cowan, Ali Baker (14) and Andy Byk (24).
39 points Andrea Whitehead (36) and David Whitehead (22), Fiona Palmer (38) and Bruce Palmer (16).
38 points Vanessa Stephen (14) and Jeff Hamdorf (17.)
37 points Sue Macdonald (28) and Ian Macdonald (10) Patricia Noske (19) and Steve Noske (7) Nikki Bellemore-Thomas (25) and Bean Goh (36) Cath Bellemore (5) and Paul Baster (11.}
36 points Veni Tang (21) and Gary Hing (6).
Just goes to show that consistency rather than the odd bit of brilliance is the key in a Multiplier Stableford event
Finally thanks once again to Cath Bellemore and Paul Baster for their support of the Opening Day Mixed and congratulations to all winners.
The next mixed event on the calendar is the Millenium Cup (a mixed 4 ball stableford event) which is scheduled to be played on Sunday April 16 and sponsored by The Furness and Botello Families.
The defending Champions are Jill and Tony Morgan.
The season is now well and truly open and we wish everyone happy golfing in 2023.
NOTE – Congratulations to Brad Hebble and his team – the course is returning to its former self. Keep up the good work.
From Greg Fitzhardinge
