FORMER locals Azriel Kelly, Brett Cummins, Adam Cummins and Dan Fallon could almost have been charged with assault after carving up the Cootamundra Golf Course on their way to winning the 2010 Holden Scramble on Saturday.
The quartet, who all play their club golf at the tough Yowani lay out in Canberra, fired a 10-under 61 off the stick which, when their handicap of 7.25 was deducted, gave them a nett score of 53.75 to see them finish more than two shots clear of their nearest rivals.
Given the next seven teams were separated by less than two shots it gives an indication of how superior the victorious side was.
All massive hitters from the tee, the winners monstered the four par-5s knocking it on in two on the fourth, sixth and 17th and while they just missed the respective eagle putts, the four birdies went a long way towards their final score.
Like most sides, Kelly and Co had an idea of what they needed to shoot to be in contention, their figure around the eight or nine under, but after grabbing just one birdie in their opening five holes, the odds of the visiting quartet making a run at the title had blown out significantly.
It all changed on the par-5 sixth where a Kelly drive was
followed by an Adam Cummins 3-iron that finished on the dancefloor.
As stated, the eagle attempts just missed, with at least one of the four lipping the hole, but it was to be the start of a 13-hole stretch that the eventual winners would play in nine under.
They were unlucky on the next, with Brett’s approach to the seventh green hitting the bottom of the flagstick and spinning back, but they would sink the birdie putt and follow it up with others at the eighth and ninth to make the turn at five under.
“We thought if we could be four or five under after nine we would be in with a show,” Kelly said.
“We struggled early, missing the first two greens and scrambling for a par on three, but it all seemed to come
together after that.”
The great mates would plunder another five birdies around the back, coming on the 11th, 13th, 15th, 17th and 18th, with all four players contributing.
“We couldn’t have combined any better,” Kelly said. “The conditions were pretty tough but we gelled really well and there were plenty of times when one of us pulled out a shot when we really needed it.
“We rolled in the putts we needed to.”
Having capitalized on Fallon’s drive on the 15th, the last of his three compulsory tee shots for the day, to make birdie, Kelly said it was the tough par-3 16th that proved crucial.
“Brett still needed to get a drive away and he finished in a bunker on the left,” he said.
“Adam’s ball was in a better position, but we decided to take Brett’s to get him off the card and also give us all a chance to rip it off the tee down 17 and 18.
It was a winning move, with Fallon’s bunker shot hitting the pin, partially disappearing into the hole before finishing less than an inch away.
“Adam and I both fluffed our shots so again it proved how important it is to combine as a team,” Kelly said.
With no pressure left off the tee the team attacked the last two holes, needing just a 7-iron to hit the 17th in two and a wedge to find the dancefloor on the last.
While Kelly said there was no real standout, the fact the team took his drive on eight of the 18 holes, proved how vital he was to their victory.
The combination of Roger Hart, his brothers Bede and Glenn finished second on nett 64 after firing a seven under 64 off the stick and will now join the Kelly gang in the Regional Final to be played in Canberra later this year.
Having birdied four of the first five holes, the team of James Gordon, Geoff N Black, Joseph Trinder and Rodney Buttriss couldn’t maintain their charge, also finishing with seven under, but missing out on a trip to the next level by just one-eighth of a shot after handicaps were deducted.
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