FRANKSTON TIMES scoreboard
All surfaces: RCC member James Marchesani chips his way out of a sand bunker at the Suzhou Open. Picture: PGA Tour China
Loving it: RCC member Andrew Schonewille enjoys competing on the PGA Tour China at the Suzhou Open. Picture: PGA Tour China
Rosebud golfers find their rhythm ROSEBUD Country Club members James Marchesani and Andrew Schonewille have continued to produce top results on the PGA Tour China. Marchesani and Schonewille competed at the Suzhou Open which was played at the Suzhou Jinji Lake International Golf Club on Sunday 2 September. Marchesani finished T-18 on eight under, while Schonewille, who had his best result of the season, finished T-23 on seven under. Following the Suzhou Open, Marchesani then finished T-4 in the PGA
Tour China’s Qinhuangdao Championship held at the Qinhuangdao Golf Club on Tuesday 11 September. After entering the weekend at one under and shooting rounds of 71 and 72, Marchesani finished off strongly with rounds of 68 and 69 to finish eight under par. New Zealand’s Nick Voke won the tournament with an overall score of 12 under par. Rosebud Country Club’s general manager Danny McGrath said, “It’s fantastic seeing James and Andrew producing strong performances on a tour with so much on the line, a start on the Web.com tour in the US”.
Schonewille will now enter the Macau Championships which is being played at Caesars Golf Macau on Thursday 27 September, while Marchesani has gained a start at the Taiwan Masters on the Asian Tour with a prize purse of US$850,000 (AUD$1.2 million). Marchesani’s Order of Merit finish on the European Tour last season has also allowed him to gain a start at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship which begins on Thursday 4 October. The prestigious event worth $5 million Euros (AUD$8 million) is being played at the Old Course at St
Andrews, the Championship Course at Carnoustie and Kingsbarns Golf Links in Scotland. Marchesani will then travel to Hong Kong to defend his Clearwater Bay Open title on Thursday 11 October. The season-ending Clearwater Bay Open, held at The Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club, will offer the biggest-ever purse at a PGA Tour China event of US$292,000 (AUD$400,000). Tournament Organising Committee chairman, David Hui, said the club is looking forward to hosting The Clearwater Bay Open for the third time.
“We also welcome back James Marchesani to defend his title after his great win last year,” he said. “We’ll put on a spectacular event to provide the perfect ending to the Tour as it grows from strength to strength.” The top-five on the Order of Merit will automatically earn status on next year’s Web.com Tour, while the top-10 will be eligible for the Final Stage of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament from 6-9 December and players from 11-25 will be exempt to the Second Qualifying Stage.
Sharks Girls’ claim championship SOUTHERN PENINSULA Sharks’ under-16 Girls have topped off their thrilling season as champions of the MUVJBL under-16 Girls Victorian Championship on Friday 21 September. The under-16s side defeated the Dandenong Rangers 64-56 in the grand final which was played at the State Basketball Centre. It has been an incredibly successful season for the group of girls who also won the Basketball Victoria Country Championship earlier in the year at Shepparton. To add to the side’s success, four of the girls, Charlie Dobson, Lani Thornton, Paige Price and Gemma Simon, were members of the Basketball Victoria Country State team which won silver at the Australian Junior Championships in July. The same four players were also part of the Southern Peninsula Sharks’ Senior Women’s side which finished runners-up in the Big V State Championship Women’s division. Southern Peninsula Sharks basketball operations manager Lucas Allen said it was a “crazy year of success for these girls”. “This would be one of the most
PAGE 40
successful under-16 Girls’ seasons that we’ve had at Southern Peninsula Sharks,” Allen said. “They had a few weeks there where they had a few girls at Nationals which can happen when you have players competing at a high level like that, but then having some of those girls involved at the senior level it definitely helps with their progression which made a big difference in the end.” Southern Peninsula Sharks also had further success with their under-14 Girls side which finished runners-up in the MUVJBL under-14 Girls Victorian Championship Reserve division. In other basketball news for the Southern Peninsula Sharks, the Big V held their awards night on Saturday 22 September, where Olivia Pollerd took out the State Championship Women’s Youth Player of The Year Award. Jaz Shelley was also named in the State Championship Women’s All Star Five and so too Colin Voss, who was named in the Division Two Men’s All Star Five. Top team: Southern Peninsula Sharks under-16 Girl’s crowned champions. Picture: Supplied
Frankston Times 1 October 2018