Round 3 of the NSW Illawarra Masters Pennants was played on Sunday June 1st. The team faced a tricky fixture away at Wollongong, which by all accounts was somewhat muddy underfoot.

Unfortunately, the home team proved too strong for our guys, winning 6.5 : 1.5 with Lee Maddinson winning his game and Jack Brand halving his. 2 other games went all the way, but unfortunately John McFarlane and Ian Asbury both lost on the 18th. Bill Moss went down in a close one too and there were also losses for Sean Twomey, Mark Henning and Ross Rees.

This Sunday is the reverse fixture against Wollongong at home. Hopefully the drier conditions and home track advantage will prove beneficial.

NSW Illawarra Masters Pennants started last weekend, Sunday 18 May. The team were scheduled to play Mollymook away. Unfortunately, after travelling down the Princes Hwy and starting the match, the weather intervened and the match had to be abandoned resulting in a tie. However, and it may be important come the end of the home and away series, Mark Henning had won his game before the interruption, so this will improve our ‘games score’.

Today was the reverse fixture with the guys taking on Mollymook at home on one of the few golf course that is open across the region !!! Well done to the team who came away with a 5 : 3 win. Congratulations to Lee Maddinson, John McFarlane, Sean Twomey, Neil Hartley and Mark Henning who all had wins. Bad luck to Jack Brand, Ian Asbury and John Tetley who all took their games to the 17th but ended up losing close games.

Next week sees the team travelling to Wollongong who are coming off a close win over Kiama at Kiama.

Thank you to all who participated in this year’s championships. Congratulations to 2025 Club Champion Sharon McCarthy who managed to retain her 1 shot lead over Gail Pottenger in the third and final round.

CLUB CHAMPION: Sharon McCarthy (264)

RUNNER UP: Gail Pottenger (265)

Division 2 Gross Winner: Janelle Hoskins (300)

Division 2 Gross Runner Up: Jan Wood (307)

Division 3 Gross Winner: Marie Miller (314)

Division 3 Gross Runner Up: Janell Hefer (320)

Division 1 Nett Winner: Connie Parrish

Division 1 Nett Runner Up: Tara Mackie

Division 2 Nett Winner: Gai Richardson

Division 2 Nett Runner Up: Lorraine Knight

Division 3 Nett Winner: Maureen Latimer

Division 3 Nett Runner Up: Ingrid Delfos

Final round of the Men’s Championship was played on Saturday 17 May in very good conditions with a one club Southerly blowing in later in the day. Some tricky pins again and the greens were rolling very nicely.

Our Men’s Club Champion for 2025 is Mark Johnston. Mark proved unstoppable, building on his 13 shot lead with an excellent round of 72 to finish on 287, 3 over par and 15 shots ahead of second place. Cooper Maddinson also shot 72 to take the Runner Up spot in the gross, pipping Jack Brand and Neil Hartley. Mark also cleaned up in the Nett with a final score of 283, five clear of Runner Up Neil Hartley who finished on 292.

Scott Abbott was very grateful for the 11 shot lead he had built up over 54 holes as he came home with an 85, total 320 to become A Reserve Champion. With the different rules in place for Nett and Gross in all grades except A this meant our resident painter Matt Shirlaw took home the Gross runner up prize with a total of 328. Although Pete Connor had an excellent final round 79 to finish 5 behind Scott, his Nett Score of 293 means he takes home the A Reserve Nett Prize pipping our runner up Alastair Stewart by 5 strokes.

In B Grade, Ian Fox had held the lead after every round and he continued his good form to become B Grade Champion after a round of 93 for a total of 360. Michael Winkler leapt 2 places to take the runner up spot in Gross with a total of 369. Steve Mauger surged into the lead in the Nett contest after 54 holes and maintained his lead after 72 holes to become the B Grade Nett winner with a total of 303. Runner up spot went to James Davidson on 308.

Paul Davies is our C Grade Champion with a final round of 99, for a 72 hole total of 399. Runner up was Col Parrish who matched Paul’s 99 on the final day leaving him 5 behind. Caiden Green was always going to be difficult to catch in the Nett with an 11 shot lead after 54 holes. He built on this to finish 28 ahead of runner up Charlie Swyer with a final Nett total of 288.

Congratulations to the 49 players that stuck it out to the end and returned a stroke score for all 72 holes.

Moving day in the Men’s Championship yesterday on another perfect Autumn day. Some tricky pins again today and the greens were rolling a lot quicker than they have been. Most of the movement in the leaderboard was amongst the challengers, but our 4 Grade leaders remain the same. C Grade would appear to be the tightest contest.

In A Grade, Mark Johnston has continued his excellent golf with a round of 70. Daylight is second with Jack Brand now trailing by 13 shots on 228. After a solid round of one over, Cooper Maddinson has joined Neil Hartley and Mark Henning in 3rd place on 230. In the Nett contest, Mark Johnston leads the way on 212, followed by Mark Henning and Neil Hartley on 218 and Daniel Troy on 223.

Scott Abbott had another excellent round of 77 in A Reserve, leading the way with 235 after 54 holes. Pete Connor and Matt Shirlaw have made a move into second on 246 after both shooting 81. They are followed by Paul Manning on 250 with 3 other players close behind on 251. Scott Abbott has a pretty healthy lead in the Nett too on 214 followed by Pete Connor, Liam Dale and Alastair Stewart all on 222.

In B Grade, Ian Fox continues to lead the way after a 93 for a 54 hole total of 267. Steve Mauger has closed the gap to 8 after a 87 (275) with Graeme Murphy two further back on 277 and Patrick Morris with Michael Winkler on 279. Steve Mauger leads the way in the Nett on 224 followed by Graeme Murphy 226, Ian Fox 228 and James Davidson on 230.

Paul Davies still leads the way in C Grade after a round of 101 for a 54 hole total of 300. He leads the way by three over Charlie Swyer on 303, Col Parrish on 305 and Jim Davidson 307.  Caiden Green has the lead in the Nett on 223 followed by Charlie Swyer 234, Col Parrish 236 and Paul Davies 237.

Good luck to everyone next Saturday in the final round.

The second round of the Men’s Championship got underway yesterday morning in perfect Autumn weather.  Although the conditions were perfect the course was not going to give away simple pars with a large number of pins in tricky spots where it was very easy to get short-sided.

In A Grade, Mark Johnston has opened up a seven shot lead after a round of 73, giving him a 36 hole total of 143. Jack Brand was next best with a 74 (150) and then there is a further seven shots to the closest chasers, Neil Hartley and Mark Henning on 157.

Scott Abbott compiled another solid round of 80 in A Reserve, leading the way with 158 after 36 holes. He is followed by Glen Welsh on 162, Justin Mangan on 164 and five more on 165.

In B Grade, Ian Fox continues to lead the way after a 91 for a 36 hole total of 174. He is followed by Ed Stauber on 183 and Paul Feest on 186.

Scoring in C Grade proved to be challenging again this week with only two players keeping it under 100. Paul Davies was one of those and his total of 199 after 36 holes leads the way by one over Charlie Swyer and Jim Davidson. Col Parrish is a further three shots back on 203 and then there is quite a gap to the rest of the field.

The first round of the Men’s Championship was played today, Sat 26 April. The remaining three rounds will be completed over the next three Saturdays, concluding on the 17th of May. This year there are 89 Men’s members who have paid to take part, separated into 4 grades, A, 0-5, A Reserve, 6-12, B, 13-19 and C, 20+ HCP.

In A Grade, Mark Johnston leads the way after an excellent round of 70. Jack Brand was next best with a 76, followed by Ian Asbury and John Tetley on 77.

Scoring in A Reserve was very solid with Michael Haddon leading the way after a 77. He is followed by three players on 78, Pete Connor, Glen Welsh and Scott Abbott.

In B Grade, Ian Fox leads the way after a 83, followed by AJ Robinson 86 with Michael Winkler a further three shots back on 87.

Scoring in C Grade proved to be challenging with only three players keeping it under 100. Jim Davidson leads the way after a 95, followed by Charlie Swyer, 97 and Col Parrish 99.

Due to the weather forecast, the 2nd Round of the Men’s Championships on 27 April has been cancelled. The 4th round will now be on Saturday 17 May.