THE Wimmera District and Ballarat District sent men’s and women’s teams to compete in Country Week golf tournaments this week.
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Players from across the Wimmera represented the two Wimmera sides including Josh Kelly from Stawell and Adam Tribe from Halls Gap in the men’s team.
Michael Harricks represented the Ballarat District, where his home club, Chalambar Golf Club, is aligned.
The Wimmera men finished third in division three out of five teams after winning two and recording a loss and tie in their other matches.
Josh Kelly said it was great to be picked to play for the Wimmera.
“Last year I attended Country Week as a caddy. It was great this year to contribute more to the team and play some matches,” he said.
Kelly played three matches out of four and recorded one win and two losses.
“I didn’t have the best starts in my matches, but managed to get back into the match and played some competitive golf,” he said.
Kelly was caddied in two of his matches by Shane Grover, a seasoned golfer, who guided him through the match play competition.
“Shane was a great help. He gave me a lot of tips and tricks and helped talk me through what to do when you are behind in a match,” he said.
Playing on Melbourne golf courses during the week, Kelly said it was a change to some courses in the Wimmera.
The courses were nice to play on. With no water limitations they are in really good condition,” he said.
The Ballarat District had a very different campaign this year as the team returned to Country Week as reigning champions in division one.
With only recording one win, Harricks said the team didn’t perform to the standard which they set for themselves.
“We played some pretty tough competition this year,” he said.
Harricks recorded two wins and losses throughout the week.
“I played good golf in the games that I lost. You don’t mind losing too much knowing you were playing well,” he said.
Harricks said Country Week gives players throughout districts an opportunity to play a team event.
“Golf can be classed as an individual sport. The Ballarat District men’s team gets along really well and it’s nice to go away and spend some time together and play some good golf," he said.
2018 was Harricks’ eighth year representing the Ballarat District and said the highlight of this years’ campaign was to play against Jason Johnson, a 200-game former Essendon AFL player.
“It was great to play against someone I watched play football as a kid for the team I follow in football,” he said.
