ON THE SPORTS SCENE Hammill’s year to savour
THE 2015 Joplin Rendall golf competition reached its conclusion recently when Martin Hammill and Josh Iveson played their individual matchplay final as the two remaining players in this annual competition.
The match went back and forth with Hammill getting out of the starting blocks early to take a 5-up lead. Iveson fought back to level the match after 13 holes before Hammill dug deep and eventually won at hole number 17 as he clinched the match two up and becomes the holder of the prestigious Joplin Ren- dall Trophy for 2015. The past year has been a momentous one for Hammill, who achieved his golfing ambition of a hole-in-one in September as well, to go with this title. The golf course is, as expected, very dry but greenskeeper Douggie Rheeders has done an excellent job in keeping it in a very playable condition. Visitors to the Queenstown Golf Club have had very positive comments about our course and some very low scores have been recorded over December.
The last sponsored day of last year, the annual Motolek sponsored day, was played in perfect weather conditions towards the middle of December and attracted a field of 64 golfers who played in an individual stableford competi- tion. The sponsors made sure everything was turning over perfectly for the golfers and were generous in their sponsorship. Michelle Mitchell shot 43 points to win from Johnny “Welcome Back” Poyo who found the course to his liking in shooting 40 points. Mxolisi Vanda led the golfers on 38 in the count-out from Dorian Heuer, Sanet Victor and Warren Newman. Vusi Mandindi and Josh Iveson took the seventh and eighth spots.
The generous field prizes were won by Francois de Villiers fifth, Jaco Cloete eighth, Vusi Mandindi 11th and Cor Oosthuizen 16th. The longest drives were smashed by Seppi Vermaak and Michelle Mitchell up the 15th fairway. The sponsors made it a day to remember with numerous hand-outs and lucky draw prizes to many players who participated.
The Seagull defended various titles over December and can report on a comfortable pass on his scorecard. The golf correspondent looks forward to more input and chirps about the golf column this year. This game is a great leveller and loads of fun. Here’s to successful golfing in 2016 for all the Queenstown Golf Club members.