Finlay lets hole-in-one fly on UGC’s fourth hole

UMKOMAAS Golf Club (UGC) held its annual fund raising day last Saturday and what a great success it was too.

The weather looked a bit dodgy in the early morning, threatening to break all day but fortunately, with a collective sigh from everyone, it didn’t rain. It had rained quite a bit the night before – the chance of showers was definitely on the cards, so it was a big relief when all went well. The results later in this report.

‘Umkomaaster’ Tim Clark played in the Wyndham Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina last week, making the cut and going on to shoot a 68 in the final round, leaving himself -9 for the tournament at T24. Tim was the best South African this week, Retief Goosen came in on -4, Ernie Els was Even after the third round but managed a couple of birdies to finish at -2. The winner was Camilo Villegas, apparently his first PGA win since 2010, so a deserved win for him at -17.

Seven women representing UGC played in the South Coast regional championships at Scottburgh Golf Club last Sunday. Being a championship, they played 36 holes, which is pretty grueling in itself but the girls didn’t bat an eye-lid at their daunting task ahead. There were the gold, silver and bronze divisions, both open and closed plus the senior women division who played 18 holes. Congratulations to Leigh Beckerling who won the bronze open best nett competition with an amazing score of 68 nett. It’s great to see the Umkomaas flag still flying high. Well done, Leigh.

Wednesday’s competition was the usual individual stableford where all visitors – eight in all – were warmly welcomed. Congratulations this week went Rob Finlay on his glorious hole-in-one on the fourth hole. This is quite an achievement on this hole with the raised green, thinking the ball is lost and finding it in the hole. Well done, Rob. The winner on the day though and doing it for the women was Sue Boshoff, winning the count out from Warren Taylor, both on 39 points. With Warren in second spot, third place went to visitor, Lesley Pohl with 36 points with hole-in-one man of the moment, Rob Finlay managing fourth place on 34 points counting out Dave ‘George’ Smit into fifth slot.

As mentioned UGC hosted its annual fund raising day last Saturday, which was a huge day on the club’s calendar. A big thank you to all members, visitors and friends who supported the day with wonderful prizes and generous donations. There were over 100 players out on the fairways and greens with the prize list going down to 20th place. Accolades go to club manager, Sonny Govender and his very capable team who all went that extra mile to make the day such a success. Well done to everyone.

The winners of the betterball competition and taking first prize were 13-year-old Tash Naicker and uncle, Dean Naicker, on a count out from second placed winner, Barrie and brother Warren Taylor, who in turn counted out third placed winners Trevor Osborne and Roddy McGibbon, all with 48 points. There was a slew of prize winners – too many to mention but congratulations to all the prize winners and players. There were nearest the pin prizes on all the short holes and the winners were: Joe Mkhungo fourth; Trevor Wilkes ninth; Derek Airey 13th and Nelson Moonsamy on the 17th. Visitor Bertie van Jaarsveld was nearest the line with the straightest drive on the 18th.

Derek Cowden was the winner of the half lamb raffle which was kindly donated by Derek and Dawn Crookes from the club’s Caddy Shack Restaurant. Adrian Rogers took home the booze hamper.

In September golfers can look forward to the Zimbo trophy which is a modified stableford competition. Sue and Peter Boshoff are the conveners of this competition.

Next Sunday, 23 August is the ever popular fourball alliance with social golf on Sunday.

The ‘Gerry Hatricks’ play at 7am on Tuesdays and Fridays, KidzGolf is on Saturday mornings between 8am and 9am during school terms, not forgetting 6-pin on a Friday afternoon starting at about 2.30pm. There is something for everyone to join in, as UGC would love to welcome you all.

There is still a ‘mid-week 2-4-1 special’ on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays so call for more details or log on to www.umkomaasgolf.co.za for more details.