Golf News up to 2006 |
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Geoffrey Drakeford wins Vic Golf title, 22 August 2006
Last weekend Geoffrey Drakeford won the Victorian Junior Amateur Sand Greens Championship. Drakeford has been playing very well this season with a number of good results in metropolitan pennant competition.
In the Championship event Drakeford was able to effectively adjust his game to the conditions of the Elmore (near Bendigo) sand greens course. As a 14-year old in a junior (U18) event, his achievement against older and more experienced players is outstanding.
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Golf squad players set their sights, 8 August 2006
After 5 months of preparation the golf squad players have set themselves to take on some important competitions this month.
Some squad members will play in Junior Teams qualifiers next weekend. All boys will then play the Gippsland Championships at Maffra a week later, 20 August, with the girls looking to the Bairnsdale Open.
Two 14 years have jumped the gun and already established their names for this season. Geoffrey Drakeford has a place in the State Junior Development Squad and has been playing successfully in junior pennant (under 18) competition. The second is Alexandra Bantock who won the Mirboo North Ladies Club Championships back in June.
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Todd Alexander competes in World Junior Golf Championship, 27 January 2005
Mirboo Nth local Todd Alexander travelled to Fiji in December last year to contest the Aaron Baddeley Junior World Championship. Todd finished in the top 30 with rounds of 74, 73, 77 and 81. Although Todd did not take home any prizes from the tournament, he managed to drop his handicap by five shots taking him in to single figures.
The golf program has been working with the VIS in the past couple of months and athletes are now beginning to really lift the intensity as they approach their main competitions. The Academy’s VGF Golf squad had a whole day with the VIS Golf squad and Denis McDade (VIS Golf Head Coach) working on all facets of the game. The academy thanks the VIS for providing opportunities for our athletes to become involved with the VIS experience.
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2004 Golf program comes to a close, 20 November 2004
The Gippsland Sports Academy held the final session for the 2004 Victorian Golf Foundation Golf program on the weekend. All of the athletes who were inducted into the program back in February graduated from the program, which was held at the Yallourn Golf Club.
The VGF Golf program was the first program to start its 2004, with an induction day and management session scheduled on the day along with musculo-skeletal testing, which assesses flexibility and postural weaknesses and exercises that help to compensate or rectify these problems.
Throughout the year the golf squad met every month for practice sessions with academy coaches Richard Cooney, Darren Cole and Peter Brown. The coaches worked hard on specific areas of the golf game; the swing technique, the grip, short game, long game, putting and also mental sides to the game of golf such as playing under pressure, setting goals and objectives.
The hard work in training was certainly reflected in competition with some outstanding improvements and results on the course. Gary Bethune won the Junior Gippsland Scratch Tournament earlier this year, Warrick Yeates and Todd Alexander were selected for the VGF Young Achievers Squad and Geoff Drakeford was also selected for the State Development Squad.
It was also a pleasing sign to see past golf athletes excel in 2004; Anthony Brown and Craig Hasthorpe have continued to pursue their sporting dreams. Anthony (former athlete 1997 – 2000) captained the Victorian Colts Pennant team at the National Championships and is striving to gain a tour card for 2005. Craig Hasthorpe won the Victorian Regional Qualifying round in a playoff and, in doing so, will line up at the 2004 Hillross Australian Open Championships later this month.
The 2004 VGF Golf squad finished the year with an inspiring trip to the Melbourne Golf Academy organised through the Victorian Institute of Sport. The academy athletes had the opportunity to spend a day with the VIS squad and receive expert tips under the coaching of Denis McDade and his assistant coaches. The day was extremely beneficial for the athletes who were treated to a day of training, land exercises with myotherapist Katie Palmer and a round of golf at the renowned Commonwealth Golf Course.
The 2005 golf program is in the development stages with the 2005 program proposed to commence in late February next year with the application process to be finalised soon. So for all golfers in Gippsland interested in the Gippsland Sports Academy, keep an eye on our web site
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Gippsland athletes train with world class squad, 29 October 2004
On Tuesday 26th October the Gippsland Sports Academy’s Golf squad travelled to Melbourne for a session with the Victorian Institute of Sports (VIS) Golf squad.
It was a full day for both squads which started with a morning training session at the Melbourne Golf Academy. The Melbourne Golf Academy facilities are for mainly practice where golfers can fine tune their skills in driving, bunker play, putting, chipping and iron play. Denis McDade, VIS head coach, co-ordinated the training session and was assisted by academy coaches Richard Cooney and Peter Brown. The athletes trained for nearly four hours at the golf academy, working hard on bunker play, chipping and finishing the session with long drive target games which the athletes found very stimulating and effective.
The training session was broken up and strength and conditioning consultant, Katie Palmer worked with the golfers warm ups and stretching techniques, to prevent injury during training and competition phases. Katie works with Ramsay McMaster’s leading physiotherapy group, which specialises in physio for golf athletes.
After a positive morning session the athletes had a much needed break before heading to the Commonwealth Golf Club for an intra-competition round. This was a great chance for Gippsland athletes to mix with the VIS squad, which has a majority of athletes playing in Australian tour events and on the verge of earning professional tour cards either in Australia or overseas in Europe. The experience of practicing with an elite squad will help the Gippsland Sports Academy athletes realise what it takes to play at that level and reach the next step in their golfing pursuits. It is also a great example of attempting to bridge the gap between regional academies and the Victorian Institute of Sport to help athletes reach their full potential, not only in sport but in everything they attempt to achieve.
The next session for the Gippsland Sports Academy Golf squad will be on the 14th November, which will bring an end to the 2004 Victorian Golf Foundation Golf program.
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Craig Hasthorpe qualifies for Australian Open, 10 October 2004
Former Gippsland Sports Academy Golf Athlete Craig Hasthorpe has won the Victorian Regional Qualifying round for the Australian Open and gained automatic entry into the Hillross Australian Open to be held the 25th November at the Australian Golf Club in Rosebery, New South Wales.
The twenty (20) year old amateur from Trafalgar Golf Club won the tournament in a two way playoff with professional golfer, Allan Paterson. The qualifying round consisted of only one round of golf, at the Eastwood Golf Club and the winner receives automatic entry to the Australian Open Golf tournament, previously won by golf legends such as Greg Norman, Peter Lonard and young gun Aaron Baddeley. The top twelve (12) scores on the day also progress through to a second round of qualifying where they compete against golfers from all over Australia for a starting time at the Australian Open.
Hasthorpe was confident of playing well in the qualifying tournament, and his form on the course definitely showed that he was a force to be reckoned with, shooting a sixty nine (69) and sharing the top of the leader board with one other. The tournament then went into a sudden death playoff, where the first person to outscore there opponent wins. Fortunately for Craig, Patterson hit his shot into the water on the first playoff hole, and Craig safely made his par, which secured him the tournament win and a chance to play against the finest golfers from Australia and overseas in the Australian Open.
It will be the special centenary year for the Australian Open, which will entice many of the world’s greatest golfers to travel down under for the prestigious event. Hasthorpe said "That this opportunity is an absolute dream and the experience will definitely help platform my golfing development." Being a past athlete of the Gippsland Sports Academy Golf program, Hasthorpe said that the skills he learnt at the Academy have helped foster him to become a better athlete off the course as well as on. "Coaches Richard Cooney and Peter Brown have helped me immensely, especially Richard with my short game (chipping and putting). Strength and conditioning through Ramsay McMaster (Australian Golf Clinic) has also been a big part in my golfing improvement."
Hasthorpe says that he will be trying to get in as much practice before he heads off to New South Wales on November 20th. "I have some Ivo Whitten tournaments to help me prepare, as well as three practice rounds at the Australian (Golf Club) before the tournament starts". Hasthorpe also plans to fit in a few more lessons with personal and academy coach, Richard Cooney before he leaves.
In other golf news Anthony Brown, also a former athlete of the Gippsland Sports Academy, captained the Victorian Colts state team that played the interstate series in Brisbane in September. Anthony, who has relocated to Melbourne along with Hasthorpe to pursue their golfing careers, has previously represented the state team on five different occasions, three years at junior level and two years at senior level. This was his first time as captain of a state side and Anthony led by example winning three of his four matches playing at the number one and two positions in his young side. The team finished in third place overall and was coached by Academy Golf Squad Head Coach Richard Cooney.
Anthony has recently returned from a successful 2 month trip, playing well in leading amateur events in Britain and USA and is now focusing on the next couple of months where he will be vying for his professional card on the Australian and Asian PGA Tours. The Australian qualifying school is being held in Victoria during December, while qualifying rounds for the Asian Tour will be held in Malaysia in January.
The Academy congratulates both Craig and Anthony and wishes them the best of luck in the future.
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Alexander the Great, and Yeates, make State Development Squad, 2 August 2004
Two of Gippsland’s young developing golfers have been selected for the Victorian Young Achievers Squad. Todd Alexander, who is a member of the Mirboo North Golf Club and Warwick Yeates from Bairnsdale have been chosen amongst some of Victoria’s finest young golfers to participate in the Young Achievers Squad.
Athletes applied for the there spot in the squad of 24 and had to have a handicap of 10 or under. The 2004 Young Achievers’ Squad, which is organised through the Victorian Golf Association, commenced training during July following record entries. It is a short intensive program with four sessions taking place on Melbourne metropolitan courses.
This week will be the fourth and final week of training. Benefits for the 24 member squad include golf tuition, session on preparation for golf, rules education, diet and fitness in addition to a 72 hole event conducted in conjunction with the program. Squad coaches include Richard Cooney (Victorian Junior State Coach) and John Davis from the Sandringham Driving range. Mr. Cooney is also the Gippsland Sports Academy Head Coach and said this about the two players progress "both are gaining a greater understanding of their respective games and learning how to both maximise their performances. Todd has dropped about 3 shots this year so far and Warwick is trying to consolidate his low marking."
Both Todd and Warwick are members of the Gippsland Sports Academy, which is proudly sponsored by the Victorian Golf Foundation. The squad has been training since May this year, and are developing their golf skills very quickly. During the last two months the squad has been involved in many goal setting tasks, with a 21 day program set in place. The squad has also worked on swing technique, in specific relation to chipping, sand trap shots and full swing fairway shots.
Another academy athlete, Geoffrey Drakeford from Yarram has been selected for the VGA State Development Squad. The development squad will meet in Melbourne for clinics, and finish with a 72 hole event, ran with the other squads. The development squad is an introductory for talented young golfers to high level training with winners of the 72 hole event in recent years including Aaron Baddeley and Marc Leishman.
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