Golf Vic Vol 60 No 3 2019

care. “It’s been a tough year,’’ said Gubbels. “This one’s for them, absolutely.” Gubbels could not even remember how many pennant titles she had won. “I’m gonna say seven?’’ she offered, although the club thinks it is eight … plus one from Division Two when Huntingdale went down for a year. Any thoughts of retirement, she was asked. “No!’’ she said. “They’ve got to force me out. That’s the way I look at it. I’m not giving up until I have to.” The funny thing was, it was not even close. Right from the outset Huntingdale came out firing and Commonwealth was struggling under the heat. In the number- seven match, Huntingdale’s Kallista Do was down early but came back strongly to beat Kristi Bilkey 2&1. At number six, senior pennant debutant Trinity Francis, just 15, was dominating Laura Griffin, Commonwealth’s captain, and ultimately won 3&2, while at number three spot, straight-hitting Lisa Teo was underlining her reputation as a pennant-final star, beating state player Sheradyn Johnson by the time they reached the 15th green. With three points on the board, only one more was required and the focus turned to the par-five 17th hole where Gubbels was engaging in a titanic struggle with Shipp. The Huntingdale player had almost holed-in-one at the par-three 14th to take the advantage with a seven-iron shot that stopped centimetres from the cup. “It was close, a couple of inches,” she said later. “I think most of the girls hit wedge there! They’ve got 30 years on me, so I’m happy bumping it down the middle.’’ Lipping out at the 16th where she had a putt to go dormie-two up, Gubbels knew she still had the whip hand. Wedging to the green at 17 with her third shot, she watched Shipp three-putt from above the hole, meaning a mere two-putt par would do it. The title-winning point came from a short uphill putt, although she had “no idea’’ that it was the matchwinner. “I just wanted an uphiller,” she said. “I was just happy to get it in the hole and finish with the win.” Manager Gellatly had begun the day thinking that Huntingdale would need to win the top two matches with 14-year- old Jeneath Wong and 16-year-old Piper Stubbs to have a chance. As it turned out, they weren’t even required. But Wong, a Malaysian immigrant who surely has a big future, beat another state player, Alex Hilliard, 3&2 to put the icing on the Huntingdale cake, while the talented Stubbs halved her match with Casey Wild. Commonwealth’s only winner on the day was number-five player Kim Kennedy, who took down Huntingdale’s captain Emily Smith 3&2. “They putted better than our WOMEN’S DIVISION ONE FINAL RESULT Huntingdale’s talented Do sisters were a team in the final, Kallista drawing first blood at number seven with Joelynn on the bag. Two legends of the combatant clubs Commonwealth’s Louise Briers and Huntingdale’s Heather Gellatly epitomised the friendly rivalry between the two finalists. 20 Golf Victoria