Starkey stars on South Coast Junior Trip

This year’s South Coast Junior Trip took a different turn in 2011 with Links Lady Bay chosen as the base for this increasingly popular part of the Club’s Junior Development Program.

In previous years, juniors had the pleasure of playing some of the South Coast’s best courses, including Victor Harbor, South Lakes and McCracken, which had also been used as the base for accommodation.

With a fresh change needed, Links Lady Bay put up the goods in regards to accommodation, service and price, ensuring the trip would be another great success.

At an extremely civilised 9:00am, everyone gathered in the western car park at the Club in preparation for the 45 minute car journey to Links Lady Bay. As always, Paul Duregon and Adrian Wickstein were raring to go, and with Lachy and Haydn Booth’s mum, Jodie, adding to the transport and supervision, the sights were set on a great few days away.

The trip was short, although a visit to the Normanville bakery was enjoyed by most, whilst others had to put up with grabbing a pie or pasty from the Links Lady Bay pro shop. On arrival, bags were unloaded, breakfast supplies rationed to each room and everyone prepared for the first of three and a half rounds of full on, competitive golf in perfect weather conditions.

Links Lady Bay was in impeccable condition and this showed with some outstanding results. Will Starkey blitzed the field with 45 points, with Sam Raschella in second on 40 points. Mitch Taht closed the top 3 positions with 37 points.

After golf, everyone settled into their spacious rooms at the Links Lady Bay hotel whilst the “adults” checked into their 3-bedroom St Andrews Boulevard apartment. A few quick games of 8-Ball in the Lady Bay games room were enjoyed by some, whilst others spent time studying for upcoming exams (good work Yap Yap!).

Dinner on the first night was an outstanding selection of pizzas and salads, with the Lady Bay staff treating the group like royalty. An endless supply of pizzas came to an end when the group moved into the games room for more 8-Ball games and general chit chat.

Out of the corner of Wicky’s eye, a poker table was noticed, and after sourcing a deck of cards from bar staff, this became a popular venue for the remainder of the night. Numerous hands were played, and whilst the adults hogged the table, a few juniors dared get involved, some with more success than others! Betting was aggressive and chips were changing hands left, right and centre. A great night was had by most, and some more so than others!

The next morning saw an early start and perfect weather conditions again. Stableford was the competition of the day and the scoring was again impressive. Sam Hynes took the win with 39 points followed by the first day champ, Will Starkey on 37 points. Jack Hynes finished 3rd with 36 points.

The afternoon was much warmer than expected and the scheduled afternoon 18 hole ambrose event was reduced to 9 holes, giving everyone the opportunity to make use of the great facilities on offer at Links Lady Bay, including the pool, tennis courts and practice fairway.

Conveniently, the “adults” subsequently enjoyed the afternoon on the clubhouse balcony, sipping their coronas and watching boats pass by in the gulf, rather than slaving away on the golf course with the juniors.

For dinner that night, the group enjoyed the company of Club Captain, Jim Johnson, who made the trip across from Victor Harbor to spend some time with the group, prior to joining them on the final day for golf.

Dinner was a selection of schnitzel and chips, or fish and chips, and the servings were amazingly genereous. Once again, the group were treated like royalty, with their private dining room set up for us to enjoy. After the usual speeches, the 8-Ball table was again the source of great attention, closely followed by the poker table.

Again, the poker table provided some interesting action with some previous winners being brought back to earth very quickly. One old man, who shall remain nameless, took the lot after some intense one on one hands, lasting late into the night, to determine the Lady Bay Poker King.

Day 3 saw the weather turn ugly, and whilst Travelling to Fleurieu Golf Club, the heavens opened up and dumped more rain on the group than poker chips won by Paul Duregon the night before (oops, he was supposed to remain nameless!)

After a quick and muddy dash from the car park to the clubhouse at Fleurieu in pouring rain, the clouds cleared up and conditions improved remarkably for most of the day. Unfortunately, it poured over the closing holes and most players waAfter After a quick and muddy dash from the car park to the clubhouse at Fleurieu in pouring rain, the clouds cleared up and conditions improved remarkably for most of the day. Unfortunately, it poured over the closing holes and most players walked into the clubhouse after their rounds looking like drowned rats.

Despite the weather, the scoring was amazingly good, with girl power taking hold. Both Christine Beasley and Elysia Yap tied on 40 points, closely followed by Jack Hynes on 39 points.

Overall, the week belonged to Will Starkey with a 3-round total of 120 points (averaging 40 points per round), with Sam Raschella in second place on 110 points. Elysia Yap took out 3rd place with 104 points, and given she spent most of the trip with her head buried in school books is an outstanding effort. Closing out the top 6 were brothers Jack (101 points) and Sam Hynes (100 points) and Jake Hurst, also on 100 points. Last but not least was Todd Williams on a grand total of 73 points for 3 rounds – clearly so traumatised by the trip he was unable to provide this report to us by the print deadline!

Once again, the South Coast Junior Trip was a great success, a great source of camaraderie, and more importantly, a great deal of fun for all participants. A special thank you must go to Paul Duregon and Jody Booth for their outstanding supervisory duties, Adrian Wickstein for his effortless coaching and assistance, and David Brand for his usual administrative brilliance. Thanks must also go to Jim Johnson, who joined the group on the final day for golf and provided the addition of “Club royalty” to the trip for the juniors.

Finally, thanks to the team at Links Lady Bay and Fleurieu Golf Club, who, from the pro shop, food & beverage and hotel staff, were outstanding. Putting up with 18 noisy, hyperactive and crazy teens is not easy at the best of times, but their efforts were well and truly appreciated by the group.

Video Highlights from the 2011 South Coast Junior Trip

Results from the 2011 South Coast Junior Trip

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