Springs reign
Juniors break pennant drought
CLIFTON Springs has won the South Western Golf Association junior pennant for the first time since 2015, defeating Curlewis 4-1 on Sunday.
Curlewis played host to its nearby rival, but was unable to take advantage of the home course.
Sophie Johnson continued her fine Ford Cup season for Clifton Springs, defeating Isaac Shammer 5 and 4, while Ryan Marshall won against Paige Moorfoot 2 and 1, Daisy Biscan defeated Noah Shammer 4 and 2 and Hamish Craig got up over Ben Bowers 2 and 1.
Only Aiden Burns scored points for Curlewis, saluting 1up over Jacob Young.
Clifton Springs golf operations manager Michael Platt said the side ranged in age from 12 through to 15, and praised Johnson for her dominant year.
“Sophie is one of our upcoming junior girls and Daisy won five matches during the season so they both nearly won every game,” Platt said.
“But the team is all checking in with each other on the day.
“Curlewis is quite open and the kids as they do run across the fairway and check on each other and how they are going, so there is a really good team camaraderie when they are out there playing.”
Platt conceded Curlewis was the more dominant side in terms of its handicap levels, but said Clifton Springs pro Dan Materazzo had put in a power of work to get his side in strong form ahead of the final.
“Curlewis is quite a bit stronger than Clifton Springs in terms of handicap, which probably made the win even better given they are quite an intimidating team handicap wise and obviously playing on their home course,” Platt said.
“But our guys with the extra shots were able to get up. They do some training on Thursday nights with Dan the golf pro, and he does some different skill work with them and that sort of thing and they have put in a lot of time.
“Dan has put a heap of work into them so it is nice for them to get that reward.”