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2009 - The Year of the Elements
There was thunder, lightning, rain, and rapidly approaching darkness but none of these elements stopped the 6th running of the Meriton Sydney Invitational reaching a nail-biting finish.
Clear skies and brilliant sunshine along with thirty degree temperatures greeted the morning players at St Michaels on the fourth and final day of this year's tournament. These glorious conditions quickly changed with mid-afternoon thunderstorms, and lightning strikes in close proximity resulting in the players being called from the course with only holes to play.
For the next 20-30 minutes while sitting in the clubhouse wondering if play would resume the 128 players discussed and calculated where they stood in the various competitions that run simultaneously in the four days event.
Matthew Ecob and Anthony Summers realized that they needed a quick-fire of birdies if and when play resumed, but they found the task a little too difficult on the testing St Michaels layout. When play did resume, Andre Stolz, Peter Shaw and Michael Wright had a narrow lead and held their nerve to finish victorious in a three-way tie for the title.
Bad light stopped any chance of a play-off to determine a sole tournament victor and so all three players were proclaimed tournament champions and they split the prizemoney accordingly.
Andre Stolz had a bitter-sweet feeling as his second shot into the final hole stopped agonizingly close to the cup, and hung on the lip without falling in for an eagle two. Two centimetres further and victory was his alone, but the last hole birdie was similarly good enough to have his name etched on the crystal alongside Peter Shaw and Michael Wright.
As fate would have it, one of the other victors, Michael Wright only found himself in the event as a last-minute entry but made the most of his chances and played solid and entertaining golf all four days with his three amateur partners.
So final victory in the PGA event went to Andre Stolz, Peter Shaw and Michael Wright with a score of 151 stableford points (7 under par). The ALPG section of the Meriton tournament was a little more cut and dry with Cherie Byrnes playing quality golf all four days with scores of 39, 38, 37 and a steady 35 points on "money day" for a five shot victory. Defending champion, Joanne Mills was playing catch-up golf after day 2 at NSW golf course and settled for second place.
The Team Nett and Team Scratch events, while hotly contested by all 256 players, saw one-sided results with Team Shaw (Nett) and Team Downes (Scratch) recording 7 and 6 point victories.
Peter Shaw's great play provided a solid platform for his amateur team mates (Bill Blair, Joe Vitanza and Walter Devecchis) to post scores of 89. 85, 95, 90 for a 359 total. Their runaway seven point victory was all the more impressive because as defending champions from 2008 they had a 10% handicap reduction before play began, and further remarkable because they lost further shots off their handicap during the tournament because of great scores.
The Team Gross event saw a new champion. A "seedy" start at Terrey Hills on day 1 saw Team Downes record an even par score of 72 points, before Nathan Leslie, Trent Barry and Michael Dunn turned on the after-burners to streak the field with scores of 78 points at NSW, 77 points at Macquarie Links and ensuring their victory with another impressive score of 78 points at St Michaels. Their score of 305 (equivalent of 17 under par) is a tournament record and will be hard to beat (and the challenge has been set).
The Meriton tournament is unique because it is the only event in Australia where the amateurs help their professional win prizemoney. The Irish 4BBB format ensures that the amateurs are under pressure to assist their pro at all times.
The individual amateur event saw long-time supporter, Denis O'Callaghan (Team McIntosh) play magnificent golf each day and win the crystal and Victorinox watch from Phil Banister (Team Lambert) by a single point. Both Denis and Phil played exceptionally at Macquarie Links for 40pts and 41pts respectively but Denis utilized his home-course experience to the upmost with Denis signing for 37 points at St Michaels to Phil's 33pts for the narrowest of victorys.
The ladies individual event was lopsided this year, with Queenslander Joyce Jamieson opening with 40 points at Terrey Hills to open a commanding lead and then recording scores of 31, 31, and 34 for an eleven shot victory.
The event concluded at Dockside Cockle Bay with a Gala Charity Dinner. The evening had many highlights, but without any doubt, the highlight was the entertainment provided by the Noll Brothers. While Shannon is a house-hold name, his similarly talented brother, Damien, along with Shannon entertained the 320 guests. Their brilliant harmonies and melodies put the crowd in a great mood and the evening saw many wonderful charity items auctioned and silent auctioned with all money raised being donated to the Westmead Children's Hospital. Major sponsor and tournament patron, Rhonda Triguboff presented a cheque for $50,000 to the Westmead representatives on the night.
The tournament organizers, John Small and Neil Warren, would like to thank Harry and Rhonda Triguboff, and the Meriton organization, along with all the sponsors, players and guests for helping to make the Sydney Invitational - "A tournament with a difference".
 
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