Men’s Open Pennant – Semi-Final 

The Men’s Open Pennant Team played Royal Pines in the semi-final of this year’s competition at Links Hope Island on Sunday 17 March 2024. Despite playing well, the team was unfortunately defeated 5 to 2.

The semi-final team was: Alfie Ward, Taylor Barr, Ethan Leighton, Dylan Stoner, Dan Lai, Paul Blake and Paul Smerdon.

Right from the beginning, we were behind in most games, unable to match the many birdies that Royal Pines were scoring. Paul S. was down early in his match and lost to a strong competitor. Paul B. successfully stayed in touch and took the lead briefly, though ended up losing his match. Daniel played well and controlled throughout, never looking in trouble and securing a great win. Dylan stepped in at late notice as Sasha had fallen ill, levelling most of the game but falling off in the end. Ethan came close to scoring a point in match three, but his opponent pulled ahead to win. Taylor also competed against a strong opponent, who was 7 under the card after 13 holes. Alfie battled against solid opposition once again, taking the match to hole 18, where Alfie secured a hard-fought win.

While this year’s pennant lineup was disappointed not to make the final, they learned a lot and built strong team cohesion. It is worth highlighting that Alfie and Daniel were undefeated in their matches, winning 6/6 and 3/3, respectively.

Once again, many thanks to the players, caddies and supporters who came along to wish the team well.