Published June 20, 2021 21:00
The annual clash for the Artie Mollett Shield against Newcastle DGA was played at The Springs over the weekend of 19 / 20 June and unfortunately the weather gods did not smile upon us and wet, cold weather confronted the players on both days.
On Saturday 19th we played 4BBB Match Play and Newcastle took the honours 6.5 matches to 1.5. In the singles matches on Sunday 20th, Newcastle again proved too strong and took the day 10 matches to 6. Although the overall result seems a bit lopsided most of the matches were tight and could have gone either way if only one or two more putts had dropped.
One highlight of the day was in the match between Justin Avendano (CCDGA) and Justin Ely (NDGA) when both players eagled the par 5 17th hole to record a half. Forced to play the 18th to look for a result, Justin Avendano's putt to halve the hole just slid by and the match finished all square. Unfortunate for Justin (and CCDGA) but perhaps a fitting result for such a closely fought match.
These matches have been played now for what must be approaching 50 years and some old heads keep turning up year after year in these contests but both teams had a number of new young players who all grabbed their opportunity with both hands and showed some exciting promise. With these youngsters coming through there is little doubt that the matches against Newcastle will remain a significant part of our annual calendar and many more friends will be made over the next 50 years.