The highlight of the golfing calendar is the Club Championships. Digging into the archives produced these two beauties.
MARK ALLEN (2014)
NB This was written in 2014 when we had 27 holes and the finishing hole described here was today’s 9th.
To win a Club Championship is always special. Doubly so when you do it on the 18th, (now 9th) against quality opposition and have to pick up four shots on the back nine. Mark’s seventh Championship is one he, and we, should remember.
At the start of the day his three-shot advantage evaporated when inexplicably he carded two double-bogeys in the opening holes. Normally a very steady golfer this was unexpected. Nerves perhaps? Or the wind?
Shane Pallant couldn’t take advantage of this. However, he would have been well pleased with his win in the Handicap event and his near hole-in-one on the 14th (now 5th.)
That left youthful but seasoned veterans and previous winners, Matt Long and Ryan Hammond to apply the pressure.
And pressure it was. A bunker shot to stay in the game on the (then) 7th was not easy: done. A gettable birdie putt on the (then) 10th slipped pass. A birdie on the (now) 4th was fine except Ryan did it too and maintained a three-shot advantage.
However, by the last hole the tide had turned. Mark was tied with Matt with Ryan a shot behind. Ryan’s approach shot was short when he had to play from under the trees. The needed birdie possible but tough. Matt fared little better. With a similarly restricted backswing he put his second shot in the bunker. Difficult territory to get up and down.
50 metres out in the middle of the fairway it must have looked all over. After all, three times in the previous four holes, Mark had made difficult chips look easy. On both the (now) 5th and the (now) 6th from the back of the green he had to get the ball just to the top of the ridge but without the momentum to rocket off the green. On the (now) 8th his ball was lodged in long grass. Not a problem. Each chip resulted in a “gimmee” putt.
So, with a chip from 50 metres and probably a par enough to win, this should have been a formality. Golf is a funny game though. He left the easy chip short. Game on.
Danny must have closed the bar because there was quite a crowd gathered to witness history. The chip needed just to clear the ridge and cope with the pronounced turn both ways down the hill. Piece of cake. It didn’t go in but it was close.
When Ryan and Matt couldn’t reply it was all over. Win number seven for Mark Allen.
Of course these are not his only achievements. He was a regular member of the West Gippsland Country Week team from 1991 to 202 including 5 years as Captain. He added to this in 2004 and then after a break returned in 2011-13. He was part of the winning 1992, 1993 and 1998 teams. In 1994 he was crowned Victorian Country Champion. More importantly Mark last year was selected to play for Australia in the Asia Pacific Senior Amateur competition in Malaysia.
He was a member of the very first Division 1 Pennant team in 1991. With Anthony, he went through the season undefeated. 14 wins in total. For anyone to go through the season undefeated at this level is remarkable; for two to do it almost unheard of.
In 1994 he made the cut of the Victorian Open as an amateur. He was West Gippsland Champion in 1992 and 2013. He won a Club Championship at Moe and of course has won too many Club competitions to mention.
He didn’t start playing the game until after leaving school. He was one of that generation inspired by watching Greg Norman on TV. His start may have been late but the talent was always there. Two years after he began, he won the first of his Club Championships.
Anthony knows Mark better than most. He remembers oh so clearly their first meeting when this young kid rocked up in a car and proceeded to hit plenty of practice balls. For those of you who knew Mark then you will understand exactly what Anthony saw. A friendship was formed despite the intense rivalry that developed as the two young guns went head-to-head because Mark was best man at Anthony’s wedding.
He described Mark as, “a very deliberate player.” There is thought behind every shot. This is especially so on the greens. After sizing up the putt from all angles he invariably sinks the putt. Anthony’s only complaint is the time it takes.
Anthony was even more revealing about Mark’s chipping which he describes as, “Imaginative. He sees things that can’t be taught. He examines the situation closely, chooses the right, not usual club, and lands the ball close to make the putt a formality.” Most of us can only dream of playing this way.
He rates this year’s win the best given it was against quality opposition on a day when he struggled early. Being crowned Country Champion was nice too but he has fonder memories of the team victories. Golf is a very solitary business. Usually, it is just you against the course. Match play makes it more personal. However, knowing you have teammates relying upon you adds an extra dimension. His record shows he doesn’t let anyone down.
Anthony’s final comments are revealing, “He is always positive and encouraging towards others.” A champion in every sense of the word.
LACHIE BAMBRIDGE
A mistake made in the early rounds of a three-day Club Championship is hardly noticed. The prospect of a mistake well into the back nine with victory in sight is altogether a different matter. This is what Lachie faced as he played the 15th. He may have had a three-shot buffer but this was in danger.
Jye had put the pressure on with a birdie on the previous hole. However, he didn’t recover from a wayward tee shot that landed in the bunker on the next. So, the danger came from Ryan, a multiple Club Champion. Ryan’s tee shot was in the middle of the fairway 20 metres from the flag which was downstairs. Not unexpectedly, he chipped to within “gimmee” birdie range.
Lachie was having a harder time. His drive ended up on the 11th fairway about 50 metres from the green. A two-shot swing was in the offing because obstructing his shot were the trees we hackers so like to hit on the left-hand side when we tee off on that hole – well, until they were cut down recently.
Over or under? Over. The ball flew high and landed about pin high halfway up the slope. It didn’t have its usual backspin – funny about that – and instead trickled down the slope so the birdie was no surprise. For Glen Vanderligt it was so good he spent the next five minutes phoning his mates. I’ve no doubt that by the end of the night it would have become the golf shot of the century. It was a clutch shot though and possibly shut the door on Ryan’s chances.
Maybe.
On the 16th Lachie opted for the conservative approach by using an iron off the tee which landed in the middle of the fairway opposite the dam. So far so good. From there he could still reach the green in two. However, his approach shot was tugged way left with trees to be negotiated to make the green. Ah trees. Don’t we just love them? His approach shot clipped one and landed short. A delicate chip shot guaranteed his par. And Ryan? He was on for three and at about fifteen feet it was well within his putting range. Sink it and the pressure on Lachie might produce the first sign of a crack. Ryan missed.
On the 17th Ryan’s chip guaranteed a birdie. Lachie was under no real pressure with his chip but did it in style anyway. He very nearly holed out.
The 18th was a formality but Lachie won in the best way possible. Faced with a tricky downhill 15-footer he nailed it anyway. Game, set and match to Lachie.
So, we now have a Bambridge on the honour board. The irony is that Anthony wasn’t there first. Yes, he won Junior Championships but encountered Shane Dwyer at the peak of his powers and then soon after turn pro. Lachie now has bragging rights but there could be no one more proud than Anthony as he greeted his son at the end. After all, not only did Lachie triumph against quality opposition but his mettle was tested and found supreme.
We don’t see so much of Lachie now but if you are lucky you might see Anthony and sons, Lachie and Zac, playing a “social” game. Lachie drives the green on the 17th on the full which Zac doesn’t but no doubt will soon. Meanwhile the old man plays his own game 50 metres behind.
George Shand
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