Tough conditions were par for the course during the 16th Annual Ace of Clubs Tournament played on the Far South Coast of NSW.
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Entries came from 339 players representing 77 Clubs across four states and territories.
The event was played on four of the Sapphire Coast’s best golf courses – Bega Country Club, Eden Gardens Country Club, Pambula Merimbula Golf Club, and Tura Beach Country Club.
The tournament featured daily individual events at each of the courses, with scores from all these events tallied for the overall total to find the King and Queen of Clubs.
This year’s Queen of Clubs is Pambula Merimbula’s Jan Sheppard who has played in every Ace of Clubs since its inception.
Playing off a handicap of 27, Jan scored an overall total of 119, and an individual win at Eden on the Thursday.
Jan’s win was especially sweet considering she has knee replacement surgery scheduled for early July. Closely following Jan were Julie Reid from Queanbeyan, and Anne O’Grady from Belmont.
Chris Evers from Beverly Park was announced King of Clubs with a score of 145. Playing off a handicap of 10, Chris won daily events at Bega and Pambula Merimbula.
Runner up was John D’Este from Belmont. Third place went to a count back, with Rob Van Deyk from Tura Beach, edging out Goulburn’s Adam Zagar.
Peter Lawler from Murrumbidgee Golf Club achieved a Hole In One at Pambula Merimbula Golf Club in the Monday event. Peter’s scored his ace on the 131 metre 17th hole, using a Hybrid 4 club.
The heavy course conditions following months of rain, created a challenging environment for golfers of all handicaps.
It is a credit to the Course Superintendents that each course was well presented and stood up to four days of tournament play on consecutive days. The week’s golf was played in bright winter sunshine, a marked contrast to the weeks leading up to the event.
A feature of this year’s tournament was the number of large teams representing their clubs, including Medway, Korumburra, Shoalhaven Ex-Services, Queanbeyan, Traralgon and Belmont. The Ace tournament is very popular among ACT golfers with almost every Canberra Club being represented.