The 2023 Master Pennant has reached its endpoint, with 12 teams set to battle it out across four metropolitan and two regional divisions on Sunday.
Semi-finals across the weekend saw several tight contests with more than a few results going down to the wire.
Metropolitan Divison One will be a battle of a couple of the perennial powerhouses, with Monash taking on Kogarah in the final this week at Twin Creeks.
Kogarah got through to the decider in a tight affair, with the result of their contest against Mona Vale not decided until the last putt, while Monash the defending Divison One champs, did it the hard way, with several of their team on the wrong end of the score midway through the contest agaisnt Pennant Hills at Mona Vale.
Monash will seek to become the first team to win back-to-back Division I crowns Since Mona Vale achieved the feat in pre-Covid times. Kogarah, the 2021 Metro Champs, will be hard to beat, however, after winning all but one of their contests in the round-robin series.
Division II will be a battle of the southwest, with Camden taking on Macquarie links in their decider. Camden got home against Muirfield in their semi, five matches to three, while Macquarie Links was too strong for Lakeside, winning by the same margin. Gary Stubbs for the Links was a happy man, acing the Par-three 6th. Sadly, it didn’t help, he went down to Lakeside’s David Busch 2 Up.
In Division III, Bankstown and Marrickville will square off after Bankstown defeated Leonay 4 1/2 to 3 1/2. Marrickville, meanwhile, did enough to secure their place in the final with vital wins from Khristian Kerrigan, Jason Chong, Jason Dunn and Dane Jones.
Wallacia will be out to win their maiden master pennant after accounting for Georges River 5 1/2 to 2 1/2 at Brighton Lakes. It will be a strong Brighton Lakes, though, who Wallacia will face this week at Twin Creeks in the final after claiming a 5 1/2 to 2 1/2 win over Fox Hills.
In the Northern Division, 2021 State Champions Shelly Beach, after only losing 3 1/2 games all season, were knocked out by surprise packets, Maitland, who will now take on Newcastle this Sunday at Pacific Dunes, while in the Southern Division, it will be Port Kembla facing off against the Links Shell Cove at Wollongong Golf Club on Sunday.
FINALS CONTESTS – Metro – Twin Creeks Golf & Country Club
7.30 am Division IV: Brighton Lakes VS Wallacia
8.10am: Division III: Bankstown Vs North Ryde
8.50am: Division II: Camden Vs Maqc. Links
9.30 am: Divison I: Kogarah Vs Monash
Finals Contests – Regionals
SOUTHERN – 9.00am: Port Kembla Vs Links Shell Cove (venue: Wollongong GC)
NORTHERN – 9.24am: Maitland Vs Newcastle (venue: Pacific Dunes GC)
