Riverside Golf Club win Waikato Golf 2020 Men's Handicap Matchplay Final

On Sunday 16th August Te Awamutu faced Riverside in the Grand Final of the 2020 Men’s Handicap Matchplay at Hamilton Golf Club.

The morning rounds were played in foursomes format. Te Awamutu took an early lead after Sam Towers and Ivan Rigger beat Peter Skilton and Greg Ilton. Riverside evened things up by winning the next match but Te Awamutu would win the third to take a 2 – 1 lead heading into the afternoons singles matches.

The afternoon singles matches definitely lived up to the expectations of a grand final and both teams proved why they have been number 1 and 2 all season. After Ray Sutton (Riverside) beat Howard Wynyard and Steve Hudson (Te Awamutu) beat Dean Raven, it was all square at 3.5 each heading in to the last two matches.

In the final two matches, Derek Hill (Te Awamutu) beat Vincent Latham and Lewis Smith (Riverside) beat Robert Watene meaning that both teams would finish on 4.5 points each and a countback would be needed to separate them. After a countback on the margin of games won it was declared that Riverside were the 2020 Men’s Handicap Matchplay Champions.

From Left to Right: Vincent Latham, Ray Sutton, Peter Skilton, Greg Ilton, Dean Raven and Lewis Smith