Round 5 of the 2014 Metropolitan Pennant season shaped up as an important round for a number of Lake Karrinyup’s teams and their ambitions to make the final. With all 5 teams competing at home this week there was a lot to play for.
Division 8 teed off early on Sunday morning and were looking to set the tone for the rest of the divisions later in the day. They were playing against a Lakelands team which had defeated them in round 1. Looking to make a mends for this, the team put on a powerful effort in a fairly comfortable 5-2 victory.
For the division 6 Lake Karrinyup side round 5 was marked as WAGS day with a number of the players having their wives or girlfriends as caddies. The team had high hopes of performing well around the course which their caddies graciously allow them to play each week. Unfortunately the team did not perform up to their expectations and could not dazzle their better halves with their golf. Jay Barron was one of the teams shining lights who had a 3/2 victory as the first match out. This was Jay’s last round as he took off to the USA shortly after he finished his game – he finished the season undefeated.
The division 4 side had a very strong team again this week and were looking to put forward a strong performance to ensure they remain on top of the table. The team were up to the task and were never challenged on route to a 5 ½ to 1 ½ victory. One player praying for rain was Rob Morrison who upon hearing the days forecast, invested in some top of the range wet weather gear. Unfortunately for Rob nothing but blue skies greeted players on Sunday morning and his newly acquired jacket was not even close to being used. Luckily this did not deter Rob too much as he had a strong 5/3 win.
The Junior Pennant team did not stray away from their season norm this week. The team made short work of the juniors from Lakelands with a number of comfortable wins steering the team to a 5 ½ to 1 ½ win. This result means that the juniors are now assured a spot in the final in 2 weeks time. The juniors represent the club extremely well week in and week out and deserve their shot at the final on the 3rd of August.
The division 2 side were in the position of needing to win their final two games at home this season to have a shot at making the final. The team was full of confidence knowing exactly what they had to do against a Lakelands side they had defeated away from home in the first round. Through 9 holes the contest was evenly matched with no more than a few holes between each game. The first 6 matches saw the teams locked away at 3 games each with wins to Tony King, John Wallace and Ethan Andrews. Ethan played impressive golf; he played his final 7 holes in 4 under including a superb birdie on the 16th which secured his 3/2 win. After captain Nick Curnow accounted for his opponent at the number 1 position the contest now came down to the number 3 match.
Nick Vogel was locked in a tight tussle with former Tasmanian state Representative Aaron Dobson. Nick was 1 up heading down the 18th hole and hit his approach shot just over the green. His opponent pulled off a remarkable shot from the right tree line, he hit a low sliding shot which trickled up the green and hit the flagstick stopping a few inches from the hole. Nick could not pull off the miracle chip shot for the matching birdie which meant that both players headed down extra holes. After both players made their respective pars up the first extra hole the match went down the tough second hole. It appeared as though Nicks’ opponent was starting to feel the pressure after he topped his tee shot along the ground and barely made the start of the fairway. Nick hit his tee shot down the left tree line and got unlucky with his ball coming to rest in the trees. The Lakelands player hit his next shot just short of the approach bunker whilst Nick’s second shot just trickled into the same bunker. In a display that showed how harsh golf can be sometimes be the Lakelands player pulled of an unlikely par whilst Nick’s par attempt narrowly snuck past.
The end result was 5 matches to 4 in favour of Lakelands in the tightest of contests. Unfortunately the result sees the team’s finals aspirations disappear although they face another important game against Sea View at home this week. It would be great to see members continue to support our pennant teams this week in the final game for the season.
