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It was a huge day at the Deep Creek Golf Club on Saturday with gold letters up for grabs in the Club Four-Ball Championships.
A total of 25 teams teed off from the blue markers with only four shots separating the top-five teams at the conclusion of 18 holes.
The eventual winners were Tym Davey (3) and Frankie Chiu (11), a popular combination that have been loyal members of the Pakenham Golf Club before it transitioned to the Deep Creek Golf Club in October 2019.
Davey and Chiu finished with a gross score of 74, two shots clear of runners up Matt Lloyd (7) and Michael Anlanger (18) and Anthony Franzi (13) and Peter Reilly (9) in third place.
Places four and five on the leaderboard were also locked together with the combinations of Bryan Clydesdale (9) and Leigh Cullen (15), and Nick Gray (8) and Harry Elyasie (8), signing their cards for scores of 78.
It was also a big day for the future stars of the game with Club Teaching Professional Mark Shaw running his regular Saturday morning golf programs for the kids.
“We have 40 kids all up and they work on different fundamentals of the game, and we have kids from four year old right up to 12 and 15 year olds,” Shaw said.
“We have a pathway through First Swing, My Golf, and then our advanced junior classes that we run at the club.”
Shaw, originally from Queensland, has had an outstanding career as a junior coach having won the My Golf Presenter of the year in Western Australia, and was runner up nationally in 2019.
“I had over 80 kids participating in that program but I have come here to Victoria to be with my four-year-old son,” he said.
“And I came to this facility because I saw the potential to grow the game; with the playground here I saw that we could build up a junior program quite easily.”
Shaw said the benefits of learning golf were far greater than just striking the ball properly on the golf course.
“It’s really important development wise, learning general motor skills, which they don’t do a lot anymore,” he said.
“Those general motor skills will help the kids as they develop through their lives. Developing respect for elders, and having etiquette and manners, we try to develop that through here as well.”
Shaw runs the First Swing program for youngsters on Saturday mornings and advanced junior classes on Thursday afternoons. He also conducts a My Golf program for girls on Saturday afternoons and will host a Come and Try Day in the next couple of weeks.
Contact the Deep Creek Golf Club for more details.
