Murray Greys annual golf tour
First Financial is the proud sponsor of the Murray Greys, a group of avid golfers who meet annually for a social competition.
Many members are husband and wife duos who enjoy playing golf together. They all belong to different clubs around the country, with most of them coming from Queensland.
Golf competition
This year’s golf tour ran from Monday 18th to Friday 22nd March, across some wonderful courses in the Yarrawonga Mulwala region.
The group teed off the official competition at the Black Bull Golf Club. Black Bull is a full 18-hole course that encompasses the waters of Lake Mulwala. Their second day was held at Cobram Barooga Old Course and the deciding 18 holes were played at Tocumwal. All players’ handicaps were based on their individual Golf Australia handicaps and ranged from 4 to 34.
On the final day of the Murray Greys tour, the friends separated into teams to compete in the ‘Anne Alsbury Last Putt Mixed Teams Event’. Chris White, First Financial’s Principal and Managing Director joined the group for this event at the Yarrawonga Mulwala course.
Chris tells us about the history of the sponsorship,
“First Financial has been sponsoring this tour for 10 years now. The partnership originally came through Ben Rossi. Some of the players are his clients and they spoke to him about getting involved. Ben would come and meet the group for the mixed teams’ session on the last day… but he was hopeless. Eventually, Ben suggested I join in because at least I can hit a ball! It’s a great day out and we definitely have a lot of fun playing together.”
Congratulations
As sponsors, of course, we want to congratulate the winners…
The Women’s Champion was a tie this year. Thelma Allen and Wil Reilly both scored 100 stableford points across the three rounds. Men’s Champion was Paul Hepher on 110 points.
The Anne Alsbury Mixed Teams round was an ambrose event where each team member tees off on every hole. The team chooses the shot they would like to use and the golfer whose shot is taken is unable to participate in the next shot. This process continues until the ball is on the putting green, where all four players have the chance to sink the putt. This highly social style of play guarantees lots of laughs and is the perfect way to end the tour.
This year’s winning team was Group 2 – Pauline Lancaster, Nola Crothers, Alex Suvoltus and Ross Kelly on 63.75… taking out the title by the slimmest margin, just 0.105 points from 2nd and 3rd place.
There is also a special individual award called the Jeff Clarkin Trophy. It is presented by judges who look for someone who enjoys the game, irrespective of the scores and outcome. Someone who takes pleasure in the company of others and makes people around them feel special. And someone who possesses first class social skills. Congratulations to Ross Kelly, this year’s winner.
We look forward to the 2020 tour and can’t wait until Chris brings home a win! Read more First Financial articles.
