A heartbreaking day for the Red Shirts on Sunday 12 July at Barossa Valley GC, not that you could see them under the all the wet-weather gear needed to cope with the rain, the wind and the freezing cold… all of which turned a day of golf into a feat of endurance.

We’ll go in reverse order:

Division 3 - Seacliff 5 def North Adelaide 3.

Everything went wrong for our team against an opponent that enjoyed a sizeable advantage under the Handicap Matchplay format in merciless conditions on a thoroughly sodden track.

Despite having to give 12 strokes to his opponent, Robert Berg brought in a good 2&1 win in the opening match. Special mention here to his partner, Threetip Wongsala, a woman as tenacious as she is gracious, who took her match to 20 holes, before falling short.

The following four losses sealed our fate however, despite courageous wins to Zak Baig (3&1) and Kamal Haider (4&3) in the final pairing.

In closing, thanks to all our squad members, in particular Brett Heaven for his valuable moral support as reserve.

Division 2 - Sandy Creek 5 def North Adelaide 3.

North Adelaide, the pace-setter of the division, met the defending champion, Sandy Creek, in a replay of last year’s final, and again Sandy Creek prevailed in a tight encounter.

Wins to Damwon Kim (7&5), Tom Ryke (2&1) and Jeong-Ae Choi (3&1) set the team up well, but losses in the last three matches would see the team finish runner-up for another year.

While a disappointing end, it was a great season nevertheless for this team which dominated its pool during the minor round.

Division 1 - Mawson Lakes 4 def Sandy Creek 4 ( 16-13 on c/b of holes won.)

We weren’t involved, but a thriller to cap off the top division, with Mawson Lakes edging out the defending premiers after a 4-all deadlock… a championship hard-earned, after Mawson Lakes reached the final also winning a countback last week over North Adelaide.

Most noteworthy about this season of Public Course Pennants is how the honours were shared across different clubs. While some remain prominent, no one club had a stranglehold this season; a great sign of the strength and competitiveness of our public course golf clubs.

It’s also worth acknowledging the valuable role all of these clubs play in providing affordable and accessible competition golf to their members; many of whom might be starting their journeys in the game or who simply prefer the congenial atmosphere and culture that are defining qualities of our public course clubs.

With the season done, all that is left is to offer our heartfelt thanks to the following:

- Alan and Marcia Potts for their untiring efforts organising the competition.

- Helen Silvy as match referee.

- Scott Starkey as match day photographer. (His work is now up on the NAGC Flickr site here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCYU2j )

- The captains and managers for match selections and collating results.

- All players who gave their time and effort for their respective clubs and divisions.

- The Barossa Valley Golf Club as host venue.

Time to rest, recover and rally again for season 2027.