On Par - All about golf in Australia

The small dimpled ball sits precariously on a thin wooden tee. A slight breeze flicks away the handful of grass tossed into the air. The club hovers behind the ball in anticipation. Eyes fix on a flat expanse of turf in the distance then return to the Titleist awaiting orders. Seconds later, the club slams into the ball launching it skyward. The trajectory starts straight then banks right and careens through foliage landing well away from the anticipated target. Another King Challenge is underway…..

Canberra hosted the latest Challenge on the weekend, with Mike Hauser defending his title against Steve DaCosta and local Challenge regular Rich Bondietti. Capital Golf Club was the venue for round one, a well treed track unfortunately situated on the side of a hill! Mike held the slenderest of leads after round 1, 1 point in front of Steve and Rich.

Round 2 was played at Royal Canberra, a classic layout known as the Augusta of Australia due to the abundance of pinetrees. Kel Jones, joined the group for the day. The front nine saw some great shots, none more so than Steve’s 7 iron to the par 3 8th hole, he was within a tap-in of the first challenge hole-in-one. By the halfway point, Mike was 2 pts up. His lead dissolved in 2 holes with Rich leading with 7 holes to play. But the leaders game deserted him, and with Steve struggling off the fairway, Mike was able to consolidate a lead. Mike successfully defended his Challenge title from Melbourne and finished the round 8 points up over Rich, with Steve a further 2 points back.