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Tiger rules the airwaves and links for a week
17th November 2009 11:05:07 AM
WHAT a great week it was for golf in this country. It was sensational to see golf – or should I say Tiger Woods – on the front page of every newspaper in the land and overseas, as well as I received e-mails from colleagues all over the world wanting snippets of each day’s play in the JBWere Australian Masters.
Kingston Heath was just magical and it was ironic that when we awoke on Saturday morning to read that Tiger was going to be presented with the gold jacket there and then, the course had other ideas and it took a bite out of him on Saturday afternoon. But true to form as the champion that he is, he bounced back and all was then set for a great final day’s play. The rest is history and Tiger really showed that whatever he received for his appearance he was worth every dollar.
After covering tournaments in this country since the early 1980s all that needs to be said now is that this event has to be one of the best that I have ever been to. It had everything and more and next year’s tournament at Victoria Golf Club will have a lot to live up to, but I have a sneaking suspicion that after the success of this one there will be some very big names on the IMG and Victorian Special Events player shopping list to grace the fairways of Victoria Golf Club.
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THE week started well with Tiger flying in from Shanghai and following the obligatory press conferences and then the lavish dinner at the Crown Palladium. I was one of many from our area who attended but one of the highlights of the night was being witness to the re-living of days gone in VGA pennant between Sunshine Golf Club’s course superintendent Mark Findlay, Sanctuary Lakes pennant captain Rob Marlais, Brian Munn a former Sunshine pennant play and now Sanctuary Lakes stalwart and Geoff Ogilvy. It was a laugh a minute with the boys and Ogilvy was good enough to pose with them for pictures that I am sure will be treasured. Not to be outdone, Sanctuary Lakes’ own Dave Marchino though got the scoop of the night by obtaining Tiger’s mother’s autograph and not too many can boast a feat like that.
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WITH the JBWere Australian Masters now over, the next tournament for golf followers will be the Australian Open early next month at the prestigious New South Wales Golf Club at La Perouse in Sydney. Golf Australia has decided that there will be a smaller event however at the same course for the Champions Trophy.
The idea is to see who is the best golfer in various sporting codes in Australia and I have no doubts that the AFL has selected a very strong team to win the inaugural trophy. Tennis will be represented by Pat Rafter, Sanctuary Lakes member Wayne Arthurs and Peter Tramacchi. St Kilda’s Brendan Goddard and Sam Fisher who both have a very good golf game, Corey McKernan, Ben Dixon and Nathan Thompson make up the AFL team and believe me those three will be superb as both McKernan and Thompson hit the ball a mile and Dixon is married to Jack Newton’s daughter Kristie. Australian cricketer Stuart Clark and former stars Dean Jones and Greg Blewett will join with Rugby Union international Matt Burke and former stars Brett Papworth and Julian Huxley.
Not only will Jack Newton have his son-in-law playing, his son Clint who is a former Melbourne Storm player and who is home from England on leave will tee off as well alongside Brett Kimmorley, and Paul “Fatty” Vautin will be there to try and prove that the NRL has the best golfers. Others to play include Olympic gold medallist James Tomkins and former top jockey Simon Marshall. With a field such as that, it is hoped that one of the TV stations puts together some highlights.
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THREE of Australian Golf Digest’s Top 100 judges, namely editor Steve Keipert, deputy editor Tony Webeck and senior writer Rohan Clark, were in Melbourne for the JBWere Masters and before returning to Sydney last Friday afternoon, they all made a visit to Eynesbury golf course to evaluate it for next year’s top 100 listing which is due to come out in March. This will be the first time that Eynesbury has been included in the top 100 so it will be of interest to a lot of people to see where it features.
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I WAS fortunate last week to meet up with a lot of club members from our area who volunteered their time and energy to act as course marshals at Kingston Heath during the JBWere Masters. These are people dedicated to the game of golf and to their clubs and an event of the stature of the Masters could not be held without their time and effort. To all golf club members who helped out even in some small way, please take a bow as you earned it. Your input was magnificent.
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IF YOU have any news or information about your club or individual golfing exploits, I can be reached at 9749 2481 phone/fax, 0409 381 192 or by email beggolf@optusnet.com.au.
www.sanctuarylakes.com.au
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