Penrith Golf Club staged a barn-storming final round to claim the Club of the Year title in the 2019 Western Sydney Region Veteran Golfers Association (WSRVGA) Inter-Club competition.
Trailing leaders Dunheved Golf Club by four shots, Penrith's players saved one of their best collective games until last to score a commanding 8-shot victory.
Leonay Golf Club continued the trend of home clubs winning their own event but only got past Penrith on a count-back, with both clubs recording 166 points on the day.
The finishing positions of all clubs for the season, apart from Penrith and Dunheved, remained unchanged after the last high-scoring event, with reigning Club of the Year Richmond in 3rd, Wallacia 4th, Leonay 5th, Springwood 6th, Glenmore Heritage Valley 7th and Stonecutters Ridge taking the wooden spoon in 8th spot.
The battle for 'Male Player of the Year' was also hotly-contested, with leader Greg Williams (Dunheved) putting in a solid performance at Leonay with 36 points but he would ultimately be swamped by four of his rivals to finish back in 5th spot.
Penrith's Russell Cruikshank climbed a staggering 9 shots in the final round to claim the Player of the Year title on 119 points, ahead of Peter Green (Dunheved) 118 c/b, Gary Allsopp (Penrith) 118, Graham Anderson (Wallacia) 114, Williams 113 c/b, Ian Forrester (Penrith) 113 c/b, Phil Tunchon (Penrith) 113 c/b, Garry Smith (Richmond) 113, Stephen Cromer (Wallacia) 111 c/b, Stephen Johnston (Penrith) 111.
On a day of high-scoring, five new faces jumped into the year's Top Ten ranking following red-hot scores at Leonay, with just under 20 per cent of the field shooting par or better, including each of the players who finished 8th or higher in the Player of the Year rankings.
In the Ladies division, Judy Loader (Stonecutters Ridge) had already posted a staggering 8-shot lead and despite 6 of her rivals improving their scores in the final round, could not be run down on the day, taking out the 'Ladies Player of the Year' title.
Elaine Williams (Dunheved) finished runner-up on 104, ahead of Carol Carter (Richmond) 101 c/b, Margaret Brownsell (Springwood) 101, Sarah Dean (Glenmore) 100 c/b, Sue Evers (Springwood) 100, Carol Lozier (Richmond) 98, Kerry Robertson (Penrith) 97, Diane Bowden (Dunheved) 96 and Mei McCormick (Leonay) 95 c/b.
2BBB: Ross Woodley, Steve Cromer (Leonay) 52 points, Runners-up Phil Tunchon, Ian Forrester (Penrith) 51; 2BBB Medley: Sarah & Malcolm Dean (Glenmore) 44 c/b, Runners-up Margaret & John Brownsell (Springwood) 44.
Men's Singles Division 1: Peter Green (Dunheved) 43 points, Peter McFarlane (Leonay) 41, Graham Anderson (Wallacia) 39; Division 2: Garry Allsopp (Penrith) 44pts, Gordon McConnell (Leonay) 42, Chris Holden (Leonay) 40; Division 3: Bob Sproule (Leonay) 41, Russell Cruikshank (Penrith) 40, Peter Blazek (Leonay) 36 c/b.
Ladies Singles Division 1: Judy Benson (Richmond) 33 pts, Carol Carter (Richmond) 32 c/b; Division 2: Elaine Williams (Dunheved) 36, Annette Leck (Richmond) 35.
