Backwell takes Classic as Palms fate in doubt
the undefeated top side in the AFL Cairns Womens competition but missing out on the finals.
This sums up the debut season of newcomers Cairns Saints with two rounds to play in 2018, after they caused the upset of the season on Saturday by sneaking past top-ofthe-pile GOLF WITH uncertainty surrounding the future of Paradise Palms, Australian professional golfer Richard Backwell hopes he gets the chance to play the course again in 2019.
The 54-year-old won the Mercedes-Benz Cairns Classic last Friday at the course in the final stop on the mid-year leg of the Ladbrokes PGA LegBEATING North Cairns by three points.
The Tigers of North Cairns have rarely been troubled this year but two first-term goals from Rahni Pritchard and Toni O’Bree gave the Saints the early jump and they were able to hold on.
“We were just starting to get rolling as a team,” Saints coach Luke Parsons said. ends Tour in Queensland.
Backwell (pictured) secured the win, worth $4,500, following his one under 70, to hold off defending champion Tim Elliott and Perry Parker, who is once again competing in Australia from his homeland in the US.
“If we had’ve beaten Manunda Hawks the week before, we would have been a chance to play finals.
“It is one of those things — if we won a couple of games earlier in the season we would have put ourselves in a better position. It is something to build on for next year.”
In the five-team competition, three teams will play finals
“The course here really suits me, it requires plenty of fairways and greens, and that’s exactly what I did out there today,” Backwell said.
“I really enjoyed playing alongside Martin Peterson.
“We fed off each other all day and it wasn’t until the closing holes that I finally got my head in front. It’s such a treat to play a course like Paradise Palms and let’s hope we get the opportunity to return here in and Saints will be on the outside looking in, despite their end-of-season surge.
“We were rapt with the result; it was a real team effort,” Parsons said.
“To put it all together and get a win was really rewarding for the girls.”
South Cairns kept Centrals scoreless in the other round 18 match. the near future.”
Backwell held off a strong field of 35 competing professionals.
It was reported earlier this year that membership of Paradise Palms golf club could not be guaranteed beyond the end of this financial year and that staff at the resort had been encouraged to seek other work.
It has been indicated that buyers could have been found for the golf club and resort at Round 18 South Cairns 7.6-48 d Centrals Trinity Beach Womens AFC 0.0-0 Cairns Saints 3.2-20 d North Cairns 2.5-17 Manunda Hawks bye Kewarra Beach. The Legends tour will now enjoy a few weeks’ break before heading to New Caledonia for the South Pacific Classic in mid September. The Ladbrokes PGA Legends Tour is a professional golf circuit for male golfers aged 50 and over, managed by the PGA of Australia. It consists of approximately 60 tournaments throughout Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. CAIRNS netball club Trinity Beach Bulldogs will play finals in 2018 after securing fourth spot on countback. Cairns netball officials had the calculators out yesterday to decide if the Bulldogs or the Cutters were to take the final spot in the post-season after their draw on Friday evening in the last game of the regular season. With the clubs locked at 43 at full-time, the result levelled them both at 29 competition points after 15 completed rounds. Bulldogs will join the Leprechauns, the Cairns Saints, who claimed the minor premiership, and the Sharks in the first week of the finals, to be played this Friday evening.