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FINAL ROUND REPORT
A cool morning was followed by a warmer afternoon but one where the wind would be a force on many of the holes. There were no significant moves from the very early players and like most tournaments it looked certain that the winner would come from the final few groups.
Playing in his first state senior championship Noel Wood returned a two over par 72 that included bogies on the final two holes. After a pair of opening 76s his 14 over par total became the clubhouse lead. It was soon matched by Richard Greville who also returned an excellent round of 72 and Brian Sams who closed his tournament with a 74. Pre-tournament favourite Stefan Albinksi improved each day with 77-75-74 but this was not to be his event and eventually finished in seventh place tied with the very consistent NSW player Greg Corben and regular top ten finisher, ACT golfer Tony Gover.
Interest returned to the leading group and a large crowd followed this group over the final nine holes. Bill Banks and Ken Glasson shared the lead after the opening nine. Denis Dale was a further four strokes away and Ian Read two shots behind Dale. Glasson continued to hit long drives but his short game was not working and a series of three putts on the very fast and tricky Duntryleague greens would eventually put him out of contention.
Ian Read played solidly from tee to green but also narrowly missed a few vital putts and joined Glasson in finishing with a final round of 79. This was good enough for Glasson to take out third prize in his first senior amateur event. Ian Read's 79 saw him finish in tenth place. This was enough for Read to move to ninth position on the Australian Senior Ranking table and therefore give him a place in the Australian team to play New Zealand in May.
Dale found the trees on the tough 13th and recorded a double bogey that was matched by Glasson who had also found the trees of the tee. On the same hole Banks holed a longish putt for par to increase his lead to 4 strokes and with five holes remaining Banks' lead started to look comfortable. The par 4 14th at Duntryleague is nicknamed "4-7-11" with any of those scores being possible on this wonderful short par 4.
The 14th was the very hole that cost Banks the NSW Senior title when last played at Duntryleague when he went through the green into the hazard and finished with a score of 7. Once again his wedge approach second shot landed over the green but unlike 2004 this time it stoppd short of the hazard. With memories of the seven certainly in his mind he played a great recovery to find the green for a bogey 5. Dale holed a 3 metre putt for a birdie. The lead was now two.
Dale managed a very good bunker "up and down" to par the difficult fifteenth to Banks' bogey and the lead was now just one. When Dale reached the par 5 16th in two and Banks could only manage a par the tension grew. Dale's long eagle putt rolled two metres past the hole but he holed the return and the pair of good golfing friends were now level. The seventeenth is one of Duntryleague's excellent par threes.
Dale found the back of the green some 8 metres away while Banks finished just off the right edge - a longer and more difficult putt. The crowd soon had something to enjoy - Banks holed his putt for a birdie two and Dale's stopped a few agonising centimetres short while dead on line. Banks had regained the lead and he then played the eighteenth perfectly. A straight drive, excellent long iron to the middle of a treacherous green and after a good approach putt he had a tap in par. After a strong drive and excellent approach iron Dale had his chance for a tie with a 5 metre downhill putt. Hit a little too firm it was never really a chance and he had to settle for par and second place.
For Banks this was his third NSW Senior Championship in a row. In 2007 he had won at the Yowani course and in 2008 he shared victory with Tony Gresham at Mudgee. He has also finished runner up four times. A great senior golfer!
Next year the NSW Senior Championship will be held at Port Macquarie Golf Club.
219 BANKS Bill 75 - 71 - 73
220 DALE Denis 71 - 74 - 75
223 GLASSON Kenneth 72 - 72 - 79
224 GREVILLE Richard 74 - 78 - 72, SAMS Brian 74 - 76 - 74, WOOD Noel 76 - 76 - 72
226 CORBEN Greg 75 - 74 - 77, ALBINSKI Stefan 77 - 75 - 74, GOVER Tony 77 - 73 - 76
227 READ Ian 73 - 75 - 79
228 ROGERS Russell 78 - 76 - 74
229 GRESHAM Anthony 74 - 76 - 79, DUNN Nick 77 - 79 - 73
230 DARNOC Steven 76 - 75 - 79, PAINE Kerry 79 - 75 - 76
231 HADAWAY Barry 73 - 78 - 80, HALL Ronald 79 - 80 - 72, DALEY Phillip 80 - 71 - 80
232 KENNINGS Tony 76 - 81 - 75, KING Peter 78 - 75 - 79, MUSGRAVE Frank 79 - 73 - 80
233 VAN DE VEN Henk 72 - 78 - 83, DALE Rodney 74 - 78 - 81, PERCY Ross 74 - 79 - 80
OLIVER Rick 76 - 77 - 80, BOCKMAN Ross 77 - 78 - 78, BOSCH Arthur 79 - 76 - 78
Congratulations to the following winners:
Overall winner: Bill Banks
Overall runner-up: Denis Dale
Overall third: Ken Glasson
55-59 years: Richard Greville
60-64 years: Tony Gover
65-69 years: Anthony Gresham
70 yrs +: Frank Musgrave
55-59 years net: Greg Corben
60-64 years net: Brian McMahon
65-69 years net: Graeme Bastock
70 yrs + net: Brian Kay
ROUND TWO REPORT
Queenslands Ken Glasson returned his second score of 72 to take a one shot lead over Denis Dale who followed his opening 71 with a 74. This is the first senior amateur event for Glasson who has regained his amateur status after a good career as a professional.
With the second round completed they are closely followed by joint defending champion Bill Banks who had an impressive 71 after an opening 75. The final group of four on Thursday willl also include Queenslander Ian Read who shot rounds of 73-75.
The other defending champion Tony Gresham slipped slightly with a 76 and with a 36 hole total of 150 he has a lot to do in the final round. Tournament favourite Stefan Albinski has not played at his best and his rounds of 77-75 place him 8 shots from the lead.
144 GLASSON Kenneth 72 - 72
145 DALE Denis 71 - 74
146 BANKS Bill 75 - 71
148 READ Ian 73 - 75
149 CORBEN Greg 75 - 74, XUEREB Charlie 73 - 76, JOHNSON Edward 72 - 77
150 GOVER Tony 77 - 73, GRESHAM Anthony 74 - 76, MAZZONE Tony 74 - 76
SAMS Brian 74 - 76, VAN DE VEN Henk 72 - 78
151 DALEY Phillip 80 - 71, DARNOC Steven 76 - 75, HADAWAY Barry 73 - 78
152 MUSGRAVE Frank 79 - 73, ALBINSKI Stefan 77 - 75, WOOD Noel 76 - 76
DALE Rodney 74 - 78
153 KING Peter 78 - 75, KENT Gregory 76 - 77, PERCY Ross 74 - 79
The morning field encountered some early cool weather and some heavy rain for a few holes but generally the conditions were perfect on the Duntryleague Golf course. The afternoon field enountered a perfect late summer golfing day.
ROUND ONE REPORT
The Duntryleague Golf Club was presented in excellent condition and a large field of over 200 senior golfers were eager for the challenges this fine course offered.
It was NSW golfer Denis Dale who claimed the round one lead with a one over par 71. Dale's round was one of very accurate iron play with three birdies coming from short putts. In second place was the new addition to senior amateur golf - ex professional Ken Glasson. He shared second place with Ted Johnson from Tura Beach and Albury's Henk Ven de Ven.
A large group of players returned three over par 73s and nine players were grouped on 74. THe 2009 championship was shaping up as a close contest.
The NSW Seniors Championship is the last event to be played before the naming of the 12 man Australian team to play New Zealand at Sanctuary Cove in May. The pressure will be great as performance in this event will determine many of the players who will make the national team.
71 DALE Denis
72 GLASSON Kenneth, VAN DE VEN Henk, JOHNSON Edward
73 READ Ian, HADAWAY Barry, DUBOIS John, FAIRHALL Monte
DUNCOMBE Bruce, TAYLOR Steve, XUEREB Charlie
74 GREVILLE Richard, SAMS Brian, GRESHAM Anthony, DALE Rodney
PERCY Ross, EVERETT Geoff, MAZZONE Tony, CORDERY James, BEVAN Charlie
75 BANKS Bill, CORBEN Greg, EVANS Alan, SMITH Ray, SANDGREN John
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