Considering the weather over the previous week, members were very lucky to enjoy an almost rain-free round on this picturesque layout.

Being a public golf course and the amount of people who play it, it was in pretty good shape. Car parking on the grass near the clubhouse was excellent, providing easy access and no worries of finding a ticket on the window when we returned to our cars!

A very nice spot for lunch with the views from the clubhouse, the menu provided a good choice, the food was great and staff were friendly.

Results:

First = Stuart Carnell with 37 points

2nd = Rob Mulder with 36 points

3rd = John Elliot with 35 points

The next 7 place-getters also received a ball each.

NTPs:

5th 0-19HC: Wolf Engel 5m, 20+HC: Nobody

6th 0-19HC: Nobody, 20+ HC: Brad Cunynghame 1m

12th 0-19HC: Marcus Kernahan 5m, 20+HC: Leon Mulder 6.3m

16th 0-19HC: John Mortimer 4.5m, 20+ HC: Nobody

Next Round 15th August at the Vines

John Mortimer ?️⛳️

It was a tough day out for 26 Members with no one playing to handicap and only 6 scores in the 30’s ! Either the course was too challenging or we mostly all played poorly in perfect weather? A couple of the Winter Matchplay games were also conducted, both finishing with close results.

Results:

First = Vera Mortimer with 34 points

2nd = Oska Wyness with 32 points

3rd = Jim Day with 31 points

The next 6 place-getters also received a ball each.

NTPs:

3rd 0-19HC: Oska Wyness 1m, 20+HC: Nobody

7th 0-19HC: Rob DeVries 5m, 20+ HC: Annette Pearce 19m (!!)

9th 0-19HC: Chris Skewes 0.3m, 20+HC: Nobody

13th 0-19HC: Darren Griffiths 1m, 20+ HC: Tony Harrison 4m

14th 0-19HC: Wolf Engel 1.4m, 20+ HC: Nobody

Winter Matchplay:

Mark Duerden beat Stuart Carnell 2/1

Al Macdonald beat Tony Harrison 1 up

See you at North Adelaide on the 18th of July

John Mortimer ?️⛳️

22 Members fronted up for SAOGA’s return to this lovely golf course nestled amongst some of Australia’s best Vineyards. A very enjoyable round of golf, the weather was great and the course is in pretty good shape, the greens were excellent.

Results:

Winner: Vera Mortimer with 42 points

2nd: Darren Griffiths with 36 points

3rd: Helen Janetzki with 35 points

NTPs:

3rd: Nobody

6th: 0-19HC: Andrew Reid 7.5m, 20+HC: Nobody

12th: 0-19HC: Stuart Thomson 9.4m, 20+HC: Nobody

15th: Nobody

17th: 0-19HC:Wolf Engel 3.5m; 20+HC: Carolyn Kernahan, 3.5m.

See you at Flagstaff Hill on 13th June.

John Mortimer ?️⛳️

Excellent conditions on the day , the weather was perfect and the Course was in great shape . The Clubhouse food was also very good and enjoyed by all.

Results:

Winner = Rob Mulder 40 pts,

2nd = Al MacDonald 38 pts (C/B),

3rd = Mark Harkins 38 pts

NTPs:

3rd 0-19HC Stuart Thomson 5.7m       20+HC Mark Duerden 5.6m

7th 0-19HC Darren Griffiths 4.3m       20+HC Liza Wedge (42) 5.0m

10th 0-19HC Nobody        20+HC James Skewes 8.0

14th 0-19HC Marcus Kernahan 2.3m 20+HC Nobody

Also congratulations to Lyndon Prior on completing his obligatory 3 rounds to achieve an official Golf Australia handicap.

Our next game is at the Barossa Valley Golf Club on 16th May ?️⛳️

Tough times at Tanunda for most of the 28 starters with only 11 recording a score of 30 or more. This course belies it’s Stroke vs Par Rating and with trees, rough and bunkers it’s a great test of Golf. The weather was excellent and all enjoyed the BBQ. 

Results:

1st Al MacDonald 36 pts, 2nd Jai Brown 33 pts, 3rd on C/B Frank Topolnjak 33 pts

NTPs (now 2 categories: NTP for handicappers up to 19 and separate NTP for handicappers 20 and over):

7th: Benn Cox & Bob Troubridge 

11th No one made it ?

13th Bruce Clark & Mark Duerden 

16th Darren Griffiths & ?

Match play Result: Benn Cox and Bruce Clark went down to the wire with Bruce prevailing on the the last hole to win a close one.

Our next event is at Victor Harbor on Sunday 18th April

John Mortimer ?️⛳️

33 Members teed off on this challenging Links Style course in perfect conditions.

New Member Kevin Turnbull took the prize on a countback from Wolf Engel.

All enjoyed the lunch, great food was provided. 6 new Members were introduced and welcomed into SAOGA (Cathy & Marty Goldsworthy, Helen Janetzki, Lyndon Prior, Marcus Kernahan and Kevin Turnbull) and 2 other new members who were unable to attend (Hamish Kennedy and Stephen Mortimer) were acknowledged.

The AGM was conducted, the major point being the re-election of all existing committee members (Mark Duerden as President, James Lunnay as Captain, Stuart Thomson as Secretary-Treasurer, and John Mortimer, Darren Griffiths, Oska Wyness, Benn Cox and Rob Mulder as General Committee Members). Stuart Thomson agreed to take on the Secretary’s role (in addition to his existing Treasurer’s role), given Mike Willis’ resignation from the club after his move to Queensland.

Results:

1st Kevin Turnbull (39 pts), 2nd on count-back Wolf Engel (39 pts), 3rd Bob Troubridge (35 pts).

NTPs: 5th Stu Thomson (6m), 9th Jai Brown (2.7m), 12th Kevin Turnbull (2.2m), 14th John Mortimer (3.5m).

Also, 2 of the Summer Match Play games were played, between Oska Wyness and Tony Harrison as well as between Oska Wyness and Jim Day – these were close battles throughout the game, with Tony and Jim ganging up on Oska at the end to each win their matches +2 and +1 (respectively) on the last hole !

See you on Sunday 21st March at Tanunda for our next round !

John Mortimer  ?️⛳️

Obviously the Blackwood Golf Club presented quite a challenge for all of us as the winning score was only 33 points, posted by Al Macdonald, followed closely by Jai Brown and Bob Troubridge on 31 points each (Jai took silver medal position on a countback) and the wooden spoon being taken with 19 points (no names mentioned).

There were also 3 match play games going on, with Darren beating Mark 2/1, Alistair beating Oska 4/2 and Martin beating Rob 3/2 – all reasonably close matches coming down to the last few holes so well done to the victors!

The course was in pretty good condition so let’s blame that really annoying rain which came and went throughout the day, interspersed with humidity when the sun came out every now and then. I always thought that the weather bureau couldn’t forecast their way out of a paper bag as they definitely didn’t predict that weather!

Anyway, I think a fun day was experienced by all and it was worth the drive up there.

59 adults and 4 children, including 41 golfers, attended the 2020 Clare weekend. The weather was near perfect for most of the weekend, being mostly sunny and moderately cool for most of the 4 days with a little breeze at times. It was good to see some of our new sponsors and also new members attend. This was our second outing to Clare for our end of year tournament.

Both the Clare Golf Club and the Clare Country Club were great hosts with plenty of food and drink available for everyone. The relatively hilly course is picturesque and quite challenging, however a fun time was had by all. The greens were generally in very good condition.
Our SAOGA sponsors provided teams in the Friday competition with a total of 11 teams entered. It was a great day with good feedback from our generous sponsors. Well done to Trevor Reardon and the Prochem team for winning the Presidents Cup and to Dave Garrick and the Bent Creek Wines team for winning the Sponsor’s Cup.

It was also refreshing to see young Sam Garrick (our only junior golfer) win the Stealth Tools Cup with the most overall Stableford Points on Saturday and Sunday.

There were many Covid-related challenges this year with some uncertainty regarding our budget and sponsorship. Great work by the Committee in bringing it together, and to the catering efforts by the Clare Country Club on Friday and Saturday evenings as well as to Steve for providing the excellent BBQ lunch after golf on Saturday. 

Dave & Nina Garrick also very kindly put on an excellent wine-tasting event near the hotel tennis courts on Saturday afternoon, which was great fun to attend. Dave Garrick and Andrew Hudson also hosted an excellent BBQ on Sunday night – so bad luck to all of those who rushed home on Sunday afternoon after the prize-giving ceremony, you should have stayed until Monday morning!

Here is a summary of the results:

Thursday / Friday Winners:

• JFK Cup (Thursday Stoke): 1st = Stu Thomson, 2nd = Darren Griffiths, 3rd = Bob Troubridge.
• Presidents Cup (Friday Ambrose, 1st) = Prochem Team (Travis Reardon, Stewart Campbell, Brian Ferraro, Tony Steward)
• Sponsor’s Cup (Friday Ambrose, 2nd) = Bent Creek Wines Team (Dave Garrick, Sam Garrick, Darren Griffiths and Stu Thomson)

Saturday / Sunday Winners:

• Bardrill Cup (Ladies Stableford): 1st = Lisa Wedge, 2nd = Carolyn Kernahan
• Stealth Tools Cup (Best Stableford – Sat & Sun): 1st = Sam Garrick, 2^nd = Mark Duerden, 3^rd = Darren Griffiths
• Cavpower Cup (Most Consistent Golfer): Graeme Wheare
• Ensign / OD&E Trophy (Best Stableford – Sat): 1st = Benn Cox, 2nd = Tony Carter
• SAOGA Cup (Best Stableford – Sun): 1st = Peter Trezise, 2nd = Bruce Clark
• OICS Cup (Best Scratch): 1st = Jamie Trezise, 2nd = Jai Brown (same as in 2019 !)
• Santos Cup (Eclectic): 1st = Chris Skewes, 2nd = Stu Thomson
• RD Koch Trophy (Most Improved): 1st = Chris Skewes, 2nd = Mike Willis
• NAGA = Vera Mortimer
• Halliburton Cup (Calloway): 1st = Natalie Bird, 2nd = Steph Thomson
• SAOGA Club Championship:
  • A Grade: 1st = Al Macdonald, 2nd = Benn Cox
  • B Grade: 1st = Graeme Wheare, 2nd = Jim Day
  • C Grade: 1st = Bob Troubridge, 2nd = Lisa Wedge

In addition to all of the above trophy winners, 35 prize vouchers (worth $25 each) were won by 26 different players for various Nearest the Pin, Long Drive and Novelty Hole prowess displayed during the Friday, Saturday and Sunday games. The Novelty Hole competitions, included for the first time during the Ambrose game on Friday and comprising a “Straight Drive”, a “Target Drive” and a “Long Drive with a Practice Ball”, were added for a bit of extra fun on this light-hearted day.

Again, many thanks to our generous sponsors who make the weekend possible. Also, thank you to all who donated (and re-submitted) prizes for the raffle on Saturday night.

Great spring weather for our round at Victor Harbor this year. The course was in very good shape and the meals in the Clubhouse were excellent.

Bob Troubridge took out his second Trophy for the Season following his win at Tanunda ⏳⏳

1st Bob Troubridge 37

2nd Jim Day 35

3rd John Elliot 33

NTPS

3rd Stuart Cornell 3m

7th Martin Henderson tie John Elliot 3.5m

10th XXX

14th Carolyn Kernahan 6m

Next event is Clare on November 5th-8th

John Mortimer 

Move over boys, one for the Ladies! Liz Wedge wins the day

25 Members enjoyed great weather and the Course was in excellent condition for our round at The Vines.

It’s a very well looked after golf course and has a great mix of challenging holes. Must comment on the Clubhouse food (considering the COVID restrictions) was very good .

1st Liz Wedge 36

2nd Wolf Engel 35

3rd Jim Day 34 c/b

NTPS

3rd Frank Topolnjak 45cm?

6th John Elliot 8.0 m

10th Bruce Clark 4.5m

14th Stuart Thompson 3.3m

Next Round Royal Victor 13th September

John Mortimer ⛳️?️