Surely this was a time for us to relax. Our Scratch team were all scratch or nearly-scratch golfers, had gone through the season undefeated, were playing at Trafalgar where we had triumphed recently and playing against Morwell a club you might think would be suffering the scars of five successive defeats at our hands. Foregone conclusion? Not quite. It was only decided on the 16th. The final score of four and a half to two and a half suggested an easy victory. Not so. It was yet another demonstration of why pennant can be so compelling.
If you are going to have a tight contest at Trafalgar, the 16th is just about as good as it gets to have a ringside seat. You are close to the greens at the 13th and 16th, you can be hit by an errant drive from the 10th, so you need to have eyes in the back of your head and if the contest is alive it is easy to follow the players up the 17th and then 18th.
So, what happened? Team Captain, Matt Long, could have provided the highlight of the day with this comment. Before teeing off on the 14th he was asked the status of the match. “I’m only five down with just five to play.” It just wasn’t his day but a reason why we were in the finals was because of his successes. No doubt he made a brilliant victory speech because the boy does know how to talk.
When Zach came to the 14th his day was almost done too. He played well from tee to green but just couldn’t handle the greens. The day before the team had practised and had no problems. But on the day, after they had been cut and rolled and the flags placed in more difficulties places, they were a real challenge. After the very first hole, a Trafalgar stalwart said to Anthony, who was Zach’s caddy, “You might see a bit more of that.” It was the same the year before at Garfield; you can’t expect pennants to come easy.
While I can imagine Anthony would make a very good caddy this was only his side role. Golf revels in its history and this is worth recording. It took until 1991 for the men to win a pennant and then we managed it twice on the one day. Shane Dwyer was our Scratch captain, but the team included two young bucks, Mark Allan and Anthony. Both won and Anthony easily beat Peter Brown from Morwell who just happened to be Matt’s opponent twenty-four years later. Same score though. Serendipity perhaps.
So, two down but we still won. Mark, naturally, provided one of the wins. He must get beaten in finals but I am yet to see it. On the par 3 13th his opponent pulled his shot to finish nearly on the 10th and the green was blocked by trees. Ryan was playing the 10th at the time and helpfully asked if he wanted the distance. Laughter, expletives but no miracle. Three up with five to play so it was no surprise some time later to see Mark walk back, his day over, but still with a nervous wait.
Mike Santo provided some relief on the 16th. He was playing a good mate, Lucas Towns, and perhaps he should be considered our good mate too. At Trafalgar ten years before he went down to Leon Cook on the 19th to give us a 4/3 win. The next year at Moe, he lost on the 18th to Matt Long to give us another 4/3 win. On this occasion both Mike and Lucas were about 50 metres from the green with Mike having the easier shot. Both made the green but Lucas had the uphill putt while Mike had a tricky shot from off the green and downhill. Normal golfers would have putted; Mike chipped to almost gimmee distance. Lucas missed; Mike didn’t for a 3 and 2 win. Mike agreed with me afterwards that it was probably his best pennant win ever. He held his nerve. You would think that with all of his basketball experience of nailing clutch shots before big crowds this was a soda walk. No. In a team sport you are playing as part of a team and the distance between the ring and the free throw line is the same. In golf you are on your own and every part of the green is different.
At the same hole Ryan also came up with a 3 and 2 win. He would know better but I would rate it one of his best. Usually playing last often it can be all over before victory is sealed. It wasn’t at Moe when he nailed a monster putt on the 17th to keep the match alive only see his opponent sink a relatively easy putt. This time Ryan had the advantage. His approach shot left him much closer than his opponent but with this difference: Ryan had to putt across the slope while his opponent was below the hole. His opponent missed and so did Ryan but it didn’t matter.
If you have been doing your sums you would know we now had a slender 3/2 lead with Lachie out on the course about to play the 17th but one down. The best shot of the day may well have been his tee shot on the par 3 13th which plugged 20 cms from the hole for an easy win but he now had to dig deep. Unnecessary. Kevin Thorpe had already taken care of that. As lead off player, he had already won his game … on the 18th. Leon Cook won on the 19th at Trafalgar ten years before for a team victory of 4/3 so he has bragging rights. Just.
In football, an heroic winning effort on the siren might receive all the accolades but the coach might well say it was what happened in the first minute that was more important. Kevin’s win gave a certain amount of breathing space to those who came after. And yet it nearly didn’t happen. Joel Thomson, a possible future champion, had performed really well in the semi-final and Matt Guy had played in the lead up games. A play off on the Saturday before at – yes, they were serious – Trafalgar saw Kevin get the nod.
No doubt there were other pivotal moments I missed but you can’t be everywhere. This makes it nine times in the past twelve seasons and who knows how many more are to come. The success has been built around a solid core of Mark, Matt, Ryan and Mike with Leon Cook (particularly), Ryan Radford and Mick McManus all multiple winers. A dynasty perhaps? Maybe. In the meantime, salute Matt, Mark, Ryan, Mike, Lachie, Zach and Kevin plus Joel and Matt Guy. You did us proud.
George Shand (2025)
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