The 2nd City Cuntry Classic - 2011

The Great Southern Growlers hosted the competition in the South West region of Western Australia from Thursday 7 to Sunday 10 April 2011. Details and results are posted below with the Great Southern Growlers listed first in the results.

Thursday 7 April at Capel Golf Club
On a wet and rainy day, the QQQQ jumped out of the blocks in their inaugural title defence losing just one match on a day that consisted of four singles matchplay ties. The solitary point for the Great Southern Growlers came via Damian Schwarzbach, whose match with opposing captain Wez Smart was one to forget with both golfers trying to find ways to lose - Smart was the better in this department although Schwarzbach did try to hand the match to Smart by twice taking penalties for removing loose impediments when in a hazard.

Elsewhere, Rick Beet put up little resistance in his match with Damien Todorovic and Grant Woods went down to Matthew Schwarzbach with a similar result despite Woods chipping in on the last hole - four holes after his match had ended. The match between Nev van Clarke and Dean Sherlock went down to the last hole with the Growler missing a short putt to halve the match, effectively handing the ascendancy to the reigning champions.

Matchplay Results
Damian Schwarzbach defeated Wez Smart (5&4)
Rick Beet lost to Damien Todorovic (6&5)
Grant Woods lost to Matthew Schwarzbach (6&4)
Nev van Clarke lost to Dean Sherlock (1dn)

QQQQ lead 3-1

Friday 8 April at Busselton Golf Club
The Great Southern Growlers dubbed day two Fantastic Friday, bouncing back from a horror first day to take three-and-a-half points. The Ambrose format suited the Growlers with their high-handicap/low-handicap combinations resulting in a distinct advantage over their opponents.

Further leniency was given to the team of Beet/D Schwarzbach when the latter left his putter by the practice green and started the round without it. Playing the first hole with his playing partners putter, Schwarzbach added his putter on the second as his blatant disregard for the rules of golf continued.

Beet and Schwarzbach took advantage of a generous handicap and their playing partners clemency to convincingly take out their matchplay point against M Schwarzbach/Sherlock and the crossover stableford points by the slimmest of margins over Smart/Todorovic.

The head-to-head match between Smart/Todorovic and van Clarke/Woods was a tight affair with the Growlers pair hitting the front for the first time on th 17th hole after Woods holed an amazing birdie putt. The lead was short-lived though as Smart struck back with a sensational putt on the last to halve the only points of the day for the QQQQ.

Ambrose Matchplay Results (head-to-head)
van Clarke/Woods halved with Smart/Todorovic (AS)
Beet/D Schwarzbach defeated M Schwarzbach/Sherlock

Ambrose Crossover Results (total stableford points)
van Clarke/Woods defeated M Schwarzbach/Sherlock (40-36)
Beet/D Schwarzbach defeated Smart/Todorovic (41-40)

Great Southern Growlers lead 4.5-3.5

Saturday 9 April at Dunsborough Lakes Golf Course
The previous night's celebrations by the Great Southern Growlers proved to be premature with the QQQQ bouncing back with three wins on day three to set up a tantalising finish.

The round of the day came from the stick of Dean Sherlock whose chipping around the greens ensured he and partner Damien Todorovic overcame an early deficit to take out their match against D Schwarzbach/Woods with two holes to spare.

The pairing of Beet/van Clarke re-ignited the vivid nightmares of their pairing in the inaugural City Cuntry Classic at Rosehill two years ago with two more heavy losses - with four holes to play in the head-to-head matchplay and by a whopping 21 points in the combined stableford points crossover.

There was some joy for the Growlers though with D Schwarzbach's 46 point round gaining a point for his team in the crossover.

Combined Score Matchplay Results (head-to-head)
D Schwarzbach/Woods lost to Sherlock/Todorovic (3&2)
Beet/van Clarke lost to M Schwarzbach/Smart (5&4)

Combined Score Crossover Results (total stableford points)
D Schwarzbach/Woods defeated M Schwarzbach/Smart (78-72)
Beet/van Clarke lost to Sherlock/Todorovic (63-84)

QQQQ lead 6.5-5.5

Sunday 10 April at Margaret River Golf Club
A beautiful autumn day greeted the City Cuntry Classic contestants for the closing round of the 2011 event. Needing just one-and-a-half points to retain the title, the QQQQ overcame some early hiccups to gain double that number.

The match between Matthew Schwarzbach and Nev van Clarke ebbed and flowed through the opening nine holes with van Clarke left to rue a number of missed opportunities. An incorrect but spirited ruling by van Clarke on 16 when Schwarzbach hit the wrong ball would prove crucial too as Schwarzbach lifted his game over the closing nine to take a vital early point.

Meanwhile, brother Damian Schwarzbach was carrying the heavy burden of a misfiring Great Southern Growlers team and at one stage got out to a four hole lead over Damien Todorovic. The previously unbeaten QQQQ rallied though and capitalised on some missed chances by his opponent to enter the last hole just one down. Schwarzbach showed poise well beyond his mid-20s handicap, driving down the middle before finding the green from 170m out and narrowly missing his birdie putt and the birdie hole jackpot for an easy par and 2up win.

With just a point required for the QQQQ to retain their title, it would come from an unlikely source with Dean Sherlock backing up his amazing round 24 hours earlier with another win over Rick Beet with a hole to spare. The icing on the cake came when Wez Smart almost holed his jackpot birdie putt securing another point for the QQQQ.

Singles Matchplay Results
Damian Schwarzbach defeated Damien Todorovic (2up)
Nev van Clarke lost to Matthew Schwarzbach (3&2)
Grant Woods lost to Wez Smart (1dn)
Rick Beet lost to Dean Sherlock (3&1)

QQQQ win 9.5-6.5