One of our Directors, Colin Finkelde is an amazing golfer, he has been playing since he was 16 years old and has a handicap of 4, to those in the golfing world, at 58 that is pretty impressive.
Early this year he was asked to Captain the New South Wales Golf Clubs LARN Cup Team, which commenced on Sunday the 28th February 2016.
The LARN Cup is an Interclub competition between 4 golf clubs, being The Australian, The Lakes, Royal Sydney and New South Wales. The competition commenced in 1996, and been keenly contested over the last 19 years.
Each clubs selects 8 players, all of which must be over 55 years of age, as at the commencement of the competition. The matches are very competitive, with all clubs fielding strong teams. All matches are of scratch, and played on a match play basis.
Colin tells us what happened between the teams this year –
1st Match –Sunday 28th February – Played at The Lakes Golf Club.
Our opponent’s, The Australian GC are always competitive, and sadly we were missing 2 of our better players. All matches were close, with the end result being a 4 all draw.
The Lakes is a very punishing golf course, with a lot of sand and water if you stray from the fairway.
Sadly my game was not up to scratch, and I lost on the 17th hole.
2nd Match-Sunday 5th March – Played at Royal Sydney Golf Club
The weather was great, no wind, and warm, with our opponent’s, the home club feeling very confident, playing on their home course.
The result was an excellent win for New South Wales, with the result being NSW 5.5 matches def Royal Sydney, 2.5 matches.
My match went was very closely fought, and having pared the last 4 holes, resulted in a win on the 18th.
My opponent was a very solid golfer, who lives in Tamworth, and travels down each weekend to represent Royal Sydney.
3rd Match-Sunday 12th March – Played at New South Wales Golf Club
We were at home, to play the best side over the past 5 years, The Lakes GC.
They have 2 very good golfers playing in there team, Vince Clark and Roy Vanderlus, both have represented Australia, in over 50’s competitions, and very difficult to beat.
The weather was perfect for golf, with only a medium southerly blowing. (NSW is nicknamed the Windy Wales, as it is located on the northern headland of Botany Bay and is extremely difficult when the wind blows).
The opposition was strong, however our home course advantage made the difference with NSW winning 5 matches to 3.
My game was not as good as it should have been, and I disappointingly lost on the 18th hole.
4th Match- Final Sunday 19th March – Played at The Australian Golf Club
The weather was far from perfect, with strong south-westerly winds, and heavy rain from the 1st tee. As a result the course was very wet and playing extremely long.
The match would normally have been postponed however being the final, play went ahead.
In a very hard fought match, The Lakes defeated my side 5 matches to 3.
Sadly, both my team mate Ian and myself were level hitting of the 18th tee, and both lost the last hole.
The loss was very disappointing, considering the tremendous team effort in securing hard wins over Royal Sydney and The Lakes the previous 2 weeks.
The afternoon finished with a wonderful dinner, and presentation at the Australian Golf Club, with our all 4 clubs, and their club officials.
On a personal note, I was disappointed with my golf over the competition, and feel played some poor golf, too loose on occasion.
We all look forward to next year, when I am sure we can revenge the defeat.