Wrap-up of the Penrith Interclub April 2025

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Fielding their full complement of players for only the second time in two years, Wallacia achieved their best away from home performance in the same period to strongly challenge their much larger rivals at the WSRVGA Interclub Challenge hosted by Penrith Golf Club last Tuesday.

The much coveted team prize was taken out by Richmond – with Michael Harrison, Dean Fleming, Ian Jordan and Rodney Tuckwell amassing a combined total of 143 stableford points to edge out Dunheved on a countback. Wallacia finished third on 140 points, narrowly ahead of Glenmore Heritage Valley and Stonecutters Ridge on 139 each.

Debora Moussa and Julia Smith made the most of their home course knowledge to claim the medley 2-ball prize for Penrith with an impressive 46 points. They were followed by Denise and Ross Chant from Wallacia on 44 points.

Not to be outdone, the men's 2-ball winners also managed 46 points – achieved by the Wallacia pair of Jose Donoso and Robert Lewis. Second place was taken by the Stonecutters Ridge duo of Terrance Chong and Gregory Bax (43 points).

The strong Richmond and Dunheved teams dominated the individual competitions, albeit with scores that tend to indicate that in the challenge between course and player, the course won.

In the men's A Grade (handicaps 0-16) Ian Jordan of the Richmond Club secured the top prize with 35 points on a countback from Dunheved's Satya Deo, also 35 points, who edge out several other players also on a countback.

Richmond was also successful in the men's B Grade (handicaps 17-22) with Michael Harrison accumulating 37 points. Second place went to John Mathews (Glenmore Heritage Valley) on a countback with 35 points.

The countbacks continued in the men's C Grade division (handicaps 23 and above) with Dean Fleming (Richmond) and Robert Lewis (Wallacia) separated from other players who all scored 35 points.

The Ladies individual contest was a little clearer with Elaine Williams hitting the best score of the day – 38 points – to claim the top prize for Dunheved, ahead of clubmate Clea Bane who snuck into second place with 35 points, but only after yet another countback.

The next match in the interclub challenge series will be hosted by Glenmore Heritage Valley on Wednesday May 7th.

Tuesday saw the opening round of the Western Sydney Region Veterans Golfers Association (WSRVGA) 2025 interclub competition at Dunheved Golf Club.

Perfect weather and a very well presented course provided the perfect opportunity for the veteran golfers of western Sydney to show their worth – unfortunately in most cases the course came out on top.

A feature of the presentations was the awarding of major prizes from the 2024 season. Glenmore Heritage Valley were presented with their Club of the Year trophy while the two players of the year, Paul Fairbrother (Dunheved) and Lynette Luttinger (Richmond) received trophies, vouchers and shirts jointly provided by WSRVGA and NSWVGA.

Also feted was long time Richmond stalwart Noel Byles, who presented with life membership of WSRVGA in recognition of his years of service to both the Richmond club and the WSRVGA as both a club representative and Vice President.

Glenmore again showed they are a force to be reckoned with in striving for Club of the Year – their best four players accruing a total of 149 stableford points for the club to take an early lead in this competition for 2025. They were followed on the leaderboard by Richmond (136). Leonay (134), Wallacia (132), Dunheved (131), Stonecutters Ridge (129), Penrith (129) and Springwood (117). The successful Glenmore team was made up of Anthony Bowden, Gavin Johnson, Noel Guillaume and Tim Dawes.

The closeness of the various competitions is clearly evident in the results.

The 2BBB Medley was taken out by Debra Moussa and Maxine Rassmussen, with 42 points on a countback from Christine Hoppe and Noel Hoppe also on 42 points but also on a countback from the third place finishers.

The Men's B grade was similar, with Glenmore's Alan Bain (33 points) finishing ahead of Wallacia's Terry Sharpe (33 points), both on countbacks.

The Women's individual was yet another feast of countbacks with Penrith's Julie Berg edging out clubmate Debra Moussa after both finished with 33 points.

Glenmore's lead in the Club of the Year is hardly surprising when the men's 2BBB results are scrutinised. Their leading pair of Anthony Bowden and Keith Strathdee combined for an impressive 45 points, one more than their clubmates Alan Bain and Gavin Johnson who secured on yet another countback.

The dominance of the Glenmore players also showed in the men's A and C grade individual competitions, with Gavin Johnson (Glenmore, 38 points) taking A grade ahead of Ken Powell (Richmond, 36), and in C Grade Anthony Bowden (Glenmore 42) having a good lead over Hugh Renny (Leonay 37).

The next interclub challenge is scheduled for Penrith Golf Club on Tuesday April 1st.