2024 marks the eighty fifth playing of the Winter Cup, a Par event, which was first played in 1938 and was one of the first Perpetual Trophies played for at the club. The trophy was presented to the club by Dunkley’s Diamond House.
The weekend of the 10th and 11th of August saw a field of 83 players try and emulate the performance of the past winners in the field – Greg Parker (1980), Joe Alexander (2007), Andrew Frazer (2010), Bruce Allbrook (2015), John Samuels (2018), Jeff Lane (2021), Gavin Furness (2011) and also the Defending Champion.
Fine conditions prevailed over the weekend with mainly light winds and temperatures ranging from 12 degrees to 23 degrees on Saturday and a little rain on Sunday morning fining up in the afternoon.
Once again Andrew Frazer (RM Corporate Finance) came to the fore with the sponsorship of the weekend’s “major” and we acknowledge his support.
ROUND ONE
A fine, sunny morning greeted the morning field and scoring was below par!! with only 2 players finishing par or better – Viv Oldfield (12 H’Cap) andevergreen Ken Hall (19 H’cap).
Viv Oldfield started slowly from the 8th hole and was 1 down after his first nine holes and looking anything but a winner – but then he exploded into action and believe it or not the next 6 holes produced 6 pluses. 5up with 3 three holes to negotiate – 3 halves resulted and he was the morning leader – 5 up.
Ken Hall started from the 4th hole and was travelling nicely after nine holes where he was 3 up. He played steadily over the back nine with a plus on the 16th which put him 4 up. A loss on his final hole, the third, saw him drop back to 3 up and outright second.
Three players finished 1 down – Andrew Roberts (14 H’Cap), Mark Matthews (8 (H’Cap) and Jake Hannell (32 H’Cap).
What could the afternoon players do?
Captain Campbell Thomson (12 H’Cap) starting from the first turned for home square but promptly lost the 10th hole. 2 pluses in the next 4 holes made him one up with “amen corner” to negotiate – lose 15, halve the next two and a timely plus on the last – a good day, 1 up. However he may rue lost opportunities on the shorter par 4’s – losing 1 and 10 and 15)
Also starting from the first was Steve Noske (6 H’Cap) who was 1 up after his first nine but then disaster struck losing 3 out of the next 4 holes. He righted the ship and with 4 pluses and a loss over the concluding 5 holes and signed for 1up.
Division 5 Pennant Captain, Scott van Heurck (8 H’Cap) and the hero from the Division 3 Pennant Final, Keedan Nelles (3 H’Cap) played well to finish all square and Keedan was leading the Gross with 3 down
So, after the first day the Leaderboard looked like this-;
Viv Oldfield (12 H’Cap) 5up
Ken Hall (19 H’Cap) 3up
Campbell Thomson (12 H’Cap) 1up
Steve Noske (6 H’Cap) 1up
Scott van Heurck (8 H’Cap) Square
Keedan Nelles (3 H’Cap) Square
8 players on 1 down including the Defending Champion Gavin Furness (9 H’Cap) who was seen using the scoring ap for the first time. About time too!
9 players were on 2 down.
BRING ON SUNDAY!!
ROUND TWO
Conditions on the second day were similar to Saturday.
With the leader from the morning transferring to the afternoon field there really was not much to report as far as the overall Leaderboard was concerned.
Ken Hall- 6 down, Andrew Roberts – 7 down and Jake Hannell 7 down fell by the wayside in their quest for championship honours.
Good rounds came from Rhys Edwards (17 H’Cap)– 2 up, Jeff Lane (16 H’Cap) – 1 up, Tony Cowan (22 H’Cap) – 1 up and John McKay (5 H’Cap) – 1 up.
Jeff Lane was the overall leader with 1 down – not likely to be a champion score but might be good enough to snare the best previous champion title.
Now to the afternoon field and there were some movers from the pack and there were some leaders going backwards.
After nine holes the leaderboard took a different look-;
Viv Oldfield (12 H’Cap) 5up –1 down 4up overall
Graeme Antczak (4 H’Cap) 4 down – 4 up Sqaure overall
Timothy Bryant (14 H’Cap) 1 down – Square 1 down overall
Campbell Thomson (12 H’Cap) 1up – 2 down 1 down overall
Jeff Lane (16 H’Cap) 2 down – 1 up 1 down overall
Scott van Heurck (8 H’Cap) Square – 1 down 1 down overall
Steve Noske (6H’Cap) 1up – 3 down 2 down overall
Brendan Jones (1 H’Cap) 4 down – 2 up 2 down overall
Greg Paddon (21 H’Cap) 4 down – 2 up 2 down overall
John McKay (5 H’Cap) 3 down – 1 up 2 down overall
Mark Matthews (6 H’Cap) 1 down – 1 down 2 down overall
Brendan Jones led the best Gross by 3 shots from Graeme Antczak with overnight leader Keedan Nelles a shot back.
With 9 holes to play could anyone catch the leader?
The Chairman of the “DOOGS FOR THE 2028 OLYMPIC GAMES” and former champion of the MINGENEW DOOGS CLUB, Greg Paddon (21 H’Cap), was making a move up the leaderboard. After switching his pre-game routine from Gin and Tonic to Rose and changing putters he shot up the leaderboard and after 15 holes was an amazing 7 up for the day and 3 up overall, and had joined Viv Oldfield in the lead – another hole and Greg was in front.
So, with two holes left the leaderboard looked something like this –
- Greg Paddon 3 up
- Viv Oldfield 2 up
- Steve Noske 1 down
- Jeff Lane 1 down – In clubhouse
- Mark Matthews 1 down
So, it was a race in 2
Greg Paddon made an excellent saving putt on his second last hole, the 4th, to remain 7 up for the day and 3 up overall.
Viv Oldfield’s penultimate hole was the first which he safely negotiated with a par and a half.
Now to the last hole with Greg in the lead – third shot on the 5th saw him in the greenside bunker and a costly double bogey/loss resulted. Back to 2 up overall.
Viv on the other hand made an excellent par on his final hole – the second, which gave him a plus and secure his maiden victory at the club.
Congratulations Viv and commiserations to Greg Paddon – a valiant effort.
Editor’s note -Viv joined the club from Royal Perth about 9 months ago and has been a regular competition player – in his own words with no success. A review of his handicap records shows that in his last 20 rounds his best score has been 30 points.
Best Gross went to Brendan Jones who jumped over the two overnight leaders Keedan Nelles and Graeme Antczak to win by one shot from Keedan Nelles.
RESULTS
WINNER Viv Oldfield 5 up/2 down = 3 up
RUNNER-UP Greg Paddon 4 down/6 up = 2 up
THIRD Steve Noske 1up/square = 1 up
FOURTH Jeff Lane 2 down/1 up = 1 down
FIFTH Mark Matthews 1 down/square = 1 down
Best first round Ken Hall 3up
Best second round Aidan Cooper 2up
Best Gross Brendan Jones 7 down
The best placed former champion after was Jeff Lane on 1 down.
The defending Champion Gavin Furness finished 3 down in equal 10th position
Finally thankyou to Andrew Frazer from RM Corporate Finance for his generous support of this year’s Winter Cup.
We also acknowledge the Course Staff, House Staff and Pro Shop Staff for the contribution they made to a successful weekend.
CONGRATULATIONS
VIV OLDFIELD – THE 2024 WINTER CUP CHAMPION
FINAL NOTE – GOOD LUCK Greg in trying to get Doogs into the Olympics, joining other elite sports such as Break Dancing and Rock Climbing
From – Greg Fitzhardinge
